


The Guardian Deity of Karasuno

by TimeturnerJay



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Backstory, Canon Compliant (Mostly), Chidoriyama Junior High, Gen, Japanese Mythology & Folklore, Mixed POV, More character tags to be added later - Freeform, Nishinoya Yuu is a kitsune, Nishinoya Yuu-centric, Nishinoya-centric, POV Nishinoya Yuu, Vague manga spoilers, Yôkai, rated T for some blood and violence, taking "Karasuno's Guardian Deity" literally
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-16
Updated: 2020-06-25
Packaged: 2021-03-02 05:35:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 21,566
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23690044
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TimeturnerJay/pseuds/TimeturnerJay
Summary: They call him their Guardian Deity.They don't realise just how right they are.
Relationships: Nishinoya Yuu & Karasuno Volleyball Club, Nishinoya Yuu & Nishinoya Mineo, Nishinoya Yuu & Nishinoya Yuu's Grandfather, Nishinoya Yuu & Oikawa Tooru, No Romantic Relationship(s)
Comments: 67
Kudos: 138





	1. A Storm

**Author's Note:**

> “What does it even mean for the feeling of fear to bring back old memories?”  
> “I don't think it's something us mere mortals can comprehend.”
> 
> (Yamaguchi and Tsukishima about Nishinoya, chapter 278)

Nishinoya Tomohiro wasn't a very religious man.  
He liked to face life head-on and enjoy its pleasures and challenges alike; he preferred not to leave his fate up to the many indifferent gods that were worshipped at Japan's numerous shrines.  
Still, he knew the stories well. They were a part of him, just as much as the polished floorboards and the traditionally tiled roofs of his family's vast estate.  
As he had grown up in these long, quiet hallways where the evening sunlight filtered through the old rice paper windows and the air smelled of hay and woodchips, the tales of yokai and gods had been ingrained in him. Passed down from grandmother to grandmother to grandmother for countless generations, his own grandma had spent many summer evenings in the gardens of the vast Nishinoya residence, dazzling him with tales of wicked monsters and heroic samurai, clever spirits and the deities they served. 

The Nishinoya family was an old one, but the thought that it would end with him didn't make Tomohiro as wistful as it probably should.  
For many years now, he had walked the winding corridors of the old mansion alone. He had never married, nor did he have any children. He liked it just fine this way; he had never had any desire to settle down. Instead, he enjoyed games and movies and sake, as well as the beautiful female company he invited over.  
It was a good life, and a good final bow before the Nishinoya line ended with him and faded into obscurity.  
He sometimes wondered who would buy the family estate after he was gone – the vast complex with its even vaster lands, gardens, lakes and fields that hadn't seem much use for decades now. The buildings were old and beautiful in their traditional style, but they were fragile with age.  
Maybe they would turn this whole place into a museum one day.  
Or maybe they would just tear it down and sell the land to the highest bidder. 

Tomohiro didn't much care either way.  
He was well past his sixtieth year already, and if the house's creaky floorboards and drafty doors were to die with him one day, that would be alright.  
He was the last person alive who still had any sort of connection to this place, anyway. 

His favourite part of the estate were the vast gardens. He had no hope of maintaining them on his own, so there was a small army of gardeners he paid to clean up the family grounds every spring and autumn. Even then, the plants were only seen to twice a year, so in the meantime, they spread their branches wide and grew wild and free, turning the gardens into a thriving forest of flowers and ancient, regal trees.  
He liked it best during summer evenings, when the warmth of the day still clung to the grassy earth and the fireflies danced their waltzes over the many ponds decorating the property. The heady scent of lotus and iris would fill the air, and the rhythmic wooden melody of the sōzu would keep the shadows at bay.

Today didn't bring such a magical evening.  
It was summer, but the steady heat had brought the storm season with it, and outside, the rain hammered against the wooden walls in an unceasing cacophony. The wind screamed through the drafty hallways and rattled the thin walls, and the trees in the garden wailed and groaned as the gales tore at their branches. 

Tomohiro sighed in contentment as he took another sip from his hot atsukan and wriggled a little bit deeper underneath the kotatsu.  
The TV in the corner drowned out the storm with its steady chatter and the crowd's cheers as the Black Jackals scored another point against the Sendai Frogs, a decent new team that had dared to challenge last year's champions.  
He didn't care that much for volleyball, but it made for decent entertainment during nights like these. His most recent lady friend had left a few hours ago, before the storm had gotten truly bad, and she had taken his plans for the evening with her.  
Not that Tomohiro minded terribly. Stormy weather such as this called for a manly night of alcohol and sports TV, and he'd indulged in both unapologetically.  
He could already feel the atsukan getting to his head, the heated spirit prickling through his body and replacing the cold with a pleasant warm haze. 

He watched as the Sendai Frogs finally managed to score a point with a cleverly executed block, and he gleefully cheered along with the crowd as the team's setter shouted in celebration.  
Yeah. It was going to be a good night. He could feel it in his bones.

The crowd fell silent as the next player stepped up to serve, and this, perhaps, was the only reason why he heard it: Over the wailing of the wind, another howl tore through the air. It was distant and desperate, and it lasted for only a few seconds before it tore off with an angry bark. 

For just a moment, the silence that followed was absolute, and Tomohiro felt his breath still. 

The crowd erupted into ecstatic cheers as Sendai's spiker scored a service ace, and in a sudden burst of annoyance, Tomohiro grabbed the remote and turned the TV off with one decisive button press.

He strained his ears. 

Nothing.

He got up, an involuntary shudder running down his spine as he moved out from under the kotatsu and felt the cold, wet air creep into his skin again.  
Maybe he should've worn more than just a T-Shirt and some loose pants. 

He slid open the panel door and stepped out into the smooth hallway.  
There it was again – a quiet whimpering, barely audible over the wind and rain. It sounded like an animal in pain, and it seemed to be coming from outside. 

Tomohiro grabbed a lantern and slid his feet into his sandals, and he opened the door leading into his gardens. 

Instantly, he was drenched.  
The rain tore at him with cold, watery fingers, and he had to shield his eyes with his free hand just to make out the dark silhouettes of the closest grove of trees.  
The last light of the evening hadn't disappeared yet, but the sky was covered in thick, dark clouds, and the heavy rain made it impossible to see further than a few meters.  
He held his breath, listening for the sound again as cold water dripped down his neck and flattened his remaining hair to his head. 

There.  
Somewhere beyond the droning platter of the rain and the branches groaning in the violent bursts of wind, he could still hear it.  
A steady whine, sometimes rising in volume and sometimes breaking off completely, coming from somewhere in the grey nothingness in front of him. 

He followed the sound haltingly, carefully stepping around mossy benches and unkempt flowerbeds and trying to ignore how the icy water seemed to drain all the warmth out of his body.  
The rain closed in on all sides, and soon, it felt like he was walking through a veil of water.  
There was something magical about the moment, as wet and uncomfortable as it was – even the roaring wind seemed to quiet down as he drew closer to the source of the wailing.  
It almost seemed like the whole world was falling away, like he was walking somewhere in-between. 

Then, the light of his lantern caught on something in the all-surrounding greyness; a warm speck of colour, a small form crouched beneath the low-hanging branches of a red maple tree in vain hope of protection against the elements.  
It was a fox, or so he thought. It was hard to tell, with how dirty the creature was. Its fur looked to be more golden than red, but it was mattered with mud, rain and something darker – blood, he realised as he stepped closer.  
The creature had a long gash in its right foreleg, the limb tucked into its side protectively.  
The wound looked painful. 

Tomohiro stopped, acutely aware of the fox's rigid body language.  
In spite of its injury, every muscle was tense in anticipation. It looked like the creature was ready to jump up and bolt.  
A low, threatening growl rumbled in its throat.

Without giving much thought to his pants, Tomohiro placed the lantern on the ground and sat down in the mud.  
He could instantly feel it soaking through the fabric, but he barely even registered the sensation.  
His eyes were fixed on the creature. 

His stare was met by the fox's own amber eyes.  
In the flickering light of the lantern, he could just barely make out the wide pupils that narrowed into a vertical slit as the creature stared past the light and right at him. 

It didn't move. 

There was something about its gaze. Those bright eyes seemed strangely intelligent as they took in every minute movement of his body.  
Suddenly, Tomohiro didn't feel like he was facing a wounded, pitiful animal anymore.  
Under the intensity of that stare, he felt like a piece of prey getting sized up by a dangerous predator. 

Any normal man might have grovelled in fear. 

Nishinoya Tomohiro was not a normal man. 

His mouth stretched wide as he burst into a boisterous laugh, the tension bleeding away.  
The fox flinched and drew deeper into the shadows. 

“Look at us, sitting out here in the rain like two drowned poodles. And here I thought it was going to be a slow night.”  
He leaned forward, his grin challenging.  
“Tell me, why are you out here in the storm? How did you get that injury? I can't help you if you run away, y'know?”

The fox, naturally, didn't respond. It only glared at the old man with open suspicion. 

“Aww, come on. Don't be like that.” Tomohiro waved his hand in a vague gesture as he got back on his feet.  
“I meant it when I said that I wanted to help you, y'know? Wait here. I should still have some fried tofu left over from dinner. You foxes like that sort of stuff, don't you? Maybe if I give you food, you'll let me have a closer look at that leg of yours.”

Tomohiro shuffled back out into the grey veil of rain, not bothering to bring the lantern with him. It would serve as a beacon for him later, when he needed to find this spot again.  
He returned maybe ten minutes later, bringing with him a covered plate of leftovers and an old first-aid-kit he had found in the bathroom.  
The fox was still there, its stare just as eerie as it had been when he had left.  
The creature didn't look very convinced by his good intentions. 

Settling back down into his spot, he uncovered the plate and pushed it out in front of him.  
“Sorry about that. It's gonna get all wet in this weather, I know. Better eat it before it gets all soggy, I'd say.”

The creature uncurled somewhat from its defensive crouch and eyed first him, then the plate.  
It sniffed, and leaned forward.  
Without any preamble, it tore into the crisp slices of tofu, the substance breaking and cracking between its sharp teeth.  
It was a surprisingly quick eater; soon, there were only crumbs left on the plate. 

Tomohiro let out another laugh.  
“You must've been hungry, huh? There's more back inside, in case you haven't had enough yet. But first-” He opened his first-aid-kit and pulled out a roll of bandages and a bottle of disinfectant. “-we need to fix that leg of yours. It's not the kind of wound you should leave to fester, or you'll probably die.”  
As jovial as his voice was, he knew that there was little to no chance he would actually get to treat the injury. An offering of food or no, it wouldn't be enough to gain the trust of a wild animal. He'd be lucky if it would let him approach at all, but there was no way it wouldn't bolt the moment he tried applying the disinfectant.

Still, he wasn't the kind of man who gave up without trying. 

He inched forward in slow, deliberate movements, staying low to the ground and appearing as non-threatening as he could possibly make himself.  
The whole time, the fox watched him, its calculating gaze never wavering.  
Its ears drew flat against its head the further he approached, but it didn't move. 

It just kept watching, as if it was waiting for something. 

Tomohiro paused in his slow approach, now close enough that he'd be able to touch the mattered golden fur if only he reached out.  
He didn't. He just sat and waited, evenly returning the fox's gaze. 

Something about its posture changed, then; it still looked apprehensive, but the way it was holding itself seemed to relax ever so slightly.  
Its eyes lost their sharp edge, and it blinked slowly up at him.  
Tomohiro returned the gesture with his own grin. “Heh. Alright then.”  
He uncapped the bottle of disinfectant, carefully keeping an eye on the fox. It didn't seem bothered.  
“I'm sorry in advance. This is gonna hurt. But it'll be over quickly, and your wound will be able to heal much better afterwards.”  
With slow and deliberate movements, he lowered the spray bottle over the leg.  
It really _was_ a nasty gash; he could see some white patches of bone shimmering through where the wound was deepest.  
Briefly, he wondered what could've caused a wound like that. A car? A boar, perhaps? Some cruel neighbourhood kid?  
Well, it was all the same in the end. What mattered now was that he helped the poor thing heal. 

He knew that it would run away the moment he used the disinfectant. The stinging pain would override its fragile trust in him, and instinct would take over.  
He was alone too, so there was no one else to hold it down while he worked. His options were very limited.  
His best bet, he supposed, was getting as much disinfectant into the wound as quickly as possible.

“Alright then, here goes. Brace yourself”, he said, trying to keep his voice low and comforting.  
And then he pressed down on the spray bottle's nozzle. And again. And again. He hit it as often as he could in the moment it took the fox to flinch back and yowl in pain. 

It didn't run, though.  
Instead, its head dove forward, as quick as lightning, and he felt pointy, terribly sharp teeth closing around his wrist, digging into his flesh.  
He dropped the spray bottle. It hit the muddy ground with a dull splash. 

The creature didn't bite down.  
It remained perfectly still, its jaws locked around Tomohiro's wrist in a silent warning.  
The teeth pricked at his skin, but didn't draw blood; its flanks heaved in heavy, pained shock. 

It didn't bite down. 

Now that the shock had passed, a slow, rumbling laugh started in Tomohiro's chest and worked some mirth into his voice. “Man, that's pretty scary. You're a quick little one, huh? Thanks for not tearing my arm open, I really appreciate that.”  
He flexed his fingers, feeling the teeth scrape at his skin with the movement. “I'd also really appreciate it if you let go of me now. Your leg should've already stopped stinging by now. See? It really wasn't all that bad, was it?”  
The silence dragged on for a moment longer, but then, as if it had understood him, the fox opened its jaws and quietly drew its head back.  
It stared at him again; that sharp edge was back in its gaze.  
And then, without breaking eye contact, it held out its injured leg. 

Tomohiro laughed in earnest now, the guffaws spilling from his mouth in deep and cheerful bursts. The fox looked at him curiously.  
“You're telling me to hurry up and get it over with, is that it? Alright then. Hold still.”

He moved slowly again as he unfurled the bandage and began to tightly wrap it around the wounded leg, though maybe it was unnecessary caution on his part. The fox did occasionally flinch at a painful tug or press, but aside from that, it remained perfectly still.  
It didn't attempt to run away, nor did it move to attack again.  
It just stared at him, waiting. 

He tucked the end of the bandage into a fold he had made for it and got up.  
“There you go. Alright. Honestly, that's probably going to start feeling very uncomfortable soon, but don't you go gnawing at it! This is for your own good!” He paused, scratching the back of his neck. His wet skin was slick and cold under his hands. “Argh, I mean... Ideally, that bandage should be changed at least once a day, right? I'm not exactly an expert either, but leaving it on indefinitely seems like a bad idea. Any chance you'll wait around and let me do this again?”

He hadn't been expecting a reply, of course.  
So he felt his heart almost miss a beat when a clear voice broke through the quiet.  
“Thank you. But that won't be necessary.”

Nishinoya Tomohiro wasn't a very religious man.  
He liked to face life head-on and enjoy its pleasures and challenges alike; he preferred not to leave his fate up to the many indifferent gods that were worshipped at Japan's numerous shrines.  
Still, he knew the stories well.  
They had been ingrained in him through many summer afternoons spent at his grandma's side in the gardens; they had been passed down through countless generations of his family to become a part of his childhood. 

He knew the stories well, so he didn't need to ask what was happening.  
Still, he hardly trusted his eyes as the fox finally got up from its spot, its body unfurling gracefully for the first time. A shining orb lay at its feet where it had been hidden by its body, bright and gleaming like a large pearl, or perhaps a miniature star.  
As the creature rose to its paws, a halo of tails fanned out behind it; one, two, three... He believed he counted seven tails in total.  
He knew what that meant; this one was old, and powerful. 

Tomohiro hadn't often found himself speechless in his life, but now he certainly was. All he managed was a respectful half-bow, and he suddenly felt rather inadequate in his soggy T-Shirt and muddy pants.  
Something like a snort reached his ears, and he looked up. Amusement danced in those dark, too-sharp eyes.  
“You weren't anything approaching pious earlier, so why start now, old man?”  
The fox's mouth didn't move, and yet, its voice echoed clearly through the garden. It seemed louder than it had any right to be, with the rain muffling all other noises.  
“If anything, I should be the one bowing to you. The wound was too deep to heal on its own. Now that you have bound it, it should be fine in a few days. My kind heals quickly, if there isn't anything interfering with the recovery.”  
The kitsune dipped its head.  
“I owe you.”

Tomohiro found his voice again, in the form of another loud guffaw.  
What an absurd situation.  
“Ah yes, so I've heard. You foxes like to repay any and all perceived debts, don't you? Well, I already have everything I could ever want around me, and no family left for you to bless. As far as I'm concerned, you don't have to do me any favours.”

The kitsune studied him for a moment, and when it spoke again, its voice was determined.  
“No. You've helped me, and I will do something for you in turn. There are many things I could give to you. A long life, protection, fortune... Take your pick.”

He paused, and considered. Refusing a kitsune's offer might be a bad idea. They were fickle creatures, if the stories were to be believed; their generosity could just as quickly transform into spite if you did something to offend them. 

His mind went, once again, to empty old hallways and creaky floorboards and drafty doors, nostalgic stories from his childhood and the scent of lotus and iris on a warm summer breeze.  
He thought of the loud _bang_ of a hammer on an auctioneer's desk, and the ownership of this old property getting handed over to some rich bastard from the city who didn't care about the ancient, rickety estate and all the memories that lived in this building, someone who would take one look at the sprawling complex and decide to tear it down in order to build some new fancy hotel or apartment block in its place. 

He sighed. 

“Well, if you insist... I suppose one thing I do regret is the fact that I never had a son. For the most part, I don't mind the Nishinoya name dying with me, but sometimes, when I've had a bit too much to drink, I can't help but feel nostalgic. I wish I could pass all of this down to someone when it's my time to go. And hearing a child's laughter in those empty hallways again would be nice. They've been quiet for far too long.”

In the silence that followed, Tomohiro glanced back at the kitsune.  
It seemed pensive, its long, graceful tails waving with uncertainty. Finally, it spoke. 

“A son, huh?” A beat passed. “My kind is powerful, but even we can't create life from scratch. I'm sure you understand. But if you really want a son, there is one thing I can do.”

There was a challenge shining in those slitted eyes, and Tomohiro felt his spine tingle with anticipation.  
The air felt charged, somehow. 

“Though you are a bit too old to be a dad. Gramps, perhaps? That feels more fitting.” Something like laughter rang in its voice.  
“Well then, gramps. A child you shall have. Aren't you lucky?”  
The fox picked its bright, gleaming orb up with its jaws, and then moved to stand under one of the low-hanging branches. It still favoured its right leg, but even with the limp, its movements were fluid and sure, like water.  
One large, red maple leaf drifted down from the branch and landed between the fox's ears, as if guided there by an invisible hand. It caught the pearl's white shine in a strange, unnatural way. 

It was in that moment that Tomohiro blinked. Just a split-second of missed time, but when he opened his eyes again, there was no fox in front of him. 

Instead, as promised, there was a child. 

The boy was short and slim. He had a narrow face and sharply slanted eyes; his thick, black hair was interrupted only by a bright streak where the leaf had touched it, as golden as the fox's fur had been. He didn't look any older than five, but there was something about the way he held himself that belied his true age.  
There was the bandage wound tightly around his right arm, a few red stains already seeping through the fabric.  
And then there were his eyes – shadowed and intelligent, with a certain eerie sharpness to them. For just a second, they caught the light, and Tomohiro could've sworn that slitted pupils stared back at him from amid the amber irises. 

The bright little pearl was nowhere to be seen, but then, Tomohiro hadn't expected it to be. 

The boy grinned, a bit too sharp and a bit too toothy to be entirely human.  
“Alright, gramps. Let's do introductions. They call me The Evening Sun that Sets on This Land, though I suppose that is a bit of a mouthful. Call me Yuu. That will do for now. Nice to meet you.”

In the middle of the storm, Tomohiro threw back his head and laughed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Update: Made some minor changes to the wording of the transformation.
> 
> Hey hey heeeey!
> 
> This started out as a fun little what-if and then quickly spiralled into an existential crisis as I analysed Nishinoya's character, dug into kitsune folklore and realised that both line up far too perfectly.  
> I don't get the bug to write all that often, but this idea just jumped me in an alley yesterday and hasn't let go of me since. 
> 
> Just a few examples of things that line up eerily neatly:  
> \- The way Nishinoya is drawn in the manga. I noticed this a while ago, but his eyes are usually drawn very obviously slitted, even when he isn't giving one of his badass speeches. He's the only one who gets that kind of treatment, as far as I am aware.  
> \- There's that mysterious blonde streak, of course - we all assumed that it was bleached, but he had it in his childhood flashbacks. What's up with that?  
> \- "[from wikipedia] Kitsune can also be exposed while in human form by their fear and hatred of dogs..." I know that Nishinoya said that he was scared of pretty much any- and everything as a child, but we did get a panel of him specifically being terrified of a dog, so let me have this!  
> \- Kitsune are apparently very picky eaters? And we know that Nishinoya was one as a child, before his gramps convinced him to try new foods. Of the things they DO like, however, they eat a lot; and Nishinoya is officially the third-biggest eater out of all the characters in the series.  
> \- We never see any family of his other than his grandpa. No parents, no siblings. Sure, maybe they just didn't get any screen time, but still, it's a bit odd, isn't it?  
> \- "Other kitsune use their magic for the benefit of their companion or hosts as long as the human beings treat them with respect. [...] True kitsune gifts are usually intangibles, such as protection, knowledge, or long life." If that doesn't sound a lot like Nishinoya "The Guardian Deity" Yuu, I don't know what does. I know his more serious moments tend to get lost among his frequent silliness, but he is more devoted and determined than almost anyone else on the team.  
> \- And then there's that: His character really is a very strange mixture of very loud and silly, and very quiet and serious, depending on the moment. I find it hard to balance that in a real person, but nothing would make more sense of that than him being,,, well. An ancient trickster deity known for its mischief as well as its serious moods.  
> \- We only ever get to see one panel of Nishinoya's home, but it looks pretty damn traditional from what's visible, at least on the inside. The location name is also translated as "Nishinoya Residence", so that sounds pretty damn fancy.  
> Yeah, this isn't really related to the fox thing. I just felt like pointing it out djfhdfd
> 
> And I'm aware that all of this just sounds like conjecture (I mean, it probably is, let's be honest here), since the idea seems to come out of nowhere, but consider this: His nickname is literally "The Guardian Deity/God". Characters frequently make jokes about him not being mortal.  
> It's definitely a fun headcanon to slot into place, if nothing else. ;D
> 
> Anyway, this fic is basically me going "I've connected the dots!" and you guys going "You didn't connect shit." djfghdjd trust me tho, I've totally connected the dots. ;D


	2. Hero of the Guardian Deity

As it turned out, a fox's natural skittishness didn't mix very well with the modern human world. 

“It's just a fridge. It won't hurt you.”  
Tomohiro turned a bemused smile on the kitsune that was cowering behind him.  
For all that he had seemed ancient and dangerous just a few minutes earlier, he made for a very convincing five-year-old right now – wide eyes and a scared frown, as well as – Tomohiro did a double-take – tears welling up in his bright eyes. 

Yuu only grew tenser as he stared down the machine, clearly not believing him.  
“What is that even supposed to mean?! It's glowing on the inside! There's freezing air coming out of it! Just look-” He pointed his left index finger at the object accusingly. His whole arm was shaking. “Just look at everything it has devoured! Its belly is filled to the brim! Why would you keep a creature like this in your home?!”

Tomohiro stared for a moment, speechless, and then he doubled over, howling with laughter.  
“Oh, this is great! I wish I could tell someone about this! The great yokai-sama is scared of household appliances!” 

Yuu glared at him with wet eyes, seemingly caught in a state somewhere between terror and embarrassment.

“Ah, relax. Look, it's just a machine. It's not alive, and it's not going to hurt anyone.”

To prove his words, Tomohiro reached inside to pull out the remaining plate of leftovers.  
“It's called a fridge. We use it to keep our food cold so it won't spoil as quickly. That's all there is to it.”

He shut the fridge door and held out the plate to the waiting kitsune, who was still eyeing it warily. 

“You must have been out of contact with humanity for a long time if you've missed all of this. You've got a lot to catch up on.”

The child grabbed the plate with an embarrassed huff and shuffled towards the chabudai, sitting down at the short-legged table unceremoniously.  
The plate clattered loudly as he set it down. 

“Stuff like that is exactly why I left! Japan opened its borders and suddenly, there was all that-”  
He paused, a shudder visibly running down his spine.  
“-all that noise, and machines and strange traditions, and people from over the sea trying to replace us with their own gods!”

There was anger in his voice, but more than anything, he looked scared.  
Maybe it was the childish face he was wearing.

Somewhere in the distance, a car alarm started wailing, and Yuu flinched backwards harshly.  
He suddenly looked very small.

Tomohiro hummed, a contemplative note in his voice.  
“Well, you're here now. The world has changed, whether you like it or not. Learn to live with it.”

The kitsune made a soft sound, the fried tofu crunching between his teeth as he bit down.

* * *

'Learning to live with it', as it turned out, was a lot harder than it had initially sounded. 

“It's delicious, so give it a go!”, Tomohiro cheered as he slid the bowl of curry even closer to his house guest. 

Yuu pulled a face, turning his nose away from the offending dish. 

Tomohiro shook his head in exasperation.  
“I know the stories said that you guys only eat tofu and red beans, but I thought that was an exaggeration. How can you stand it? It's such a waste! You're missing out on so much flavour!”

Not waiting for a reply, he shovelled another spoonful of rice and sauce into his mouth, groaning in appreciation.  
“Ahh yeah, that's the good stuff. Man, I haven't had curry in far too long. It's always worth the effort!”

The boy was eyeing the bowl with some curiosity now, though he still didn't make any moves to pull it closer.

“By the way”, Tomohiro said between bites, the sly grin on his face growing ever wider when confronted with the fox's suspicious frown. “This is the only meal I'm going to cook for tonight. I'm all out of tofu, so if you want to eat, you better get to it while it's still hot!”

He watched as Yuu reluctantly picked up his spoon and dipped it into the sauce, and then slowly brought it up towards his mouth.  
It had barely even touched his lips before the curry was already dribbling down his chin again, the most comically disgusted expression on his face. 

Tomohiro burst into laughter, loud guffaws echoing through the old estate.  
“At least try it before you spit it back out! You're not getting out of this that easily!”

Yuu's indignant whine could be heard even over the rumbling thunder coming from outside.

* * *

“Don't approach him from above!”  
Tomohiro chuckled to himself, shaking his head. “Don't look him in the eye or keep eye contact!”

Yuu inched backwards with trembling steps, clearly intimidated by the growling dog.  
It was nearly twice his size, and though it had been lying down quite placidly just a few seconds earlier, it evidently wasn't all that happy now.  
Its ears lay flat against its head, and its teeth were bared in a nasty snarl. 

It barked once. Twice.  
Yuu flinched.

“I just wanted to walk past it! I wasn't gonna touch it!”

Tomohiro could practically hear the pout in his voice, though he kept his eyes firmly fixed on the dog.  
Yuu had not lied when he had told him that his kind healed quickly. It had barely taken two days for the gash on his arm to close completely, and now, a week later, only a faint pink line remained of the wound.  
Tomohiro doubted that there'd be any trace left of it one more week from now.  
Still, he'd rather not have a repeat performance of the incident, if at all possible. 

As strange and demanding as the boy was, he had grown rather fond of his antics.

“Ugh, why won't dogs ever just leave me alone?”, the child grumbled as he carefully crept around the animal at a safe distance. He was completely ignoring Tomohiro's instructions, keeping his slitted eyes firmly locked on the animal in front of him.  
The dog let out another bark in response, loud and shrill and threatening.  
“They always chase us foxes around. Humans used to bring them on hunts to catch us.”

Tomohiro shook his head with a fond smile, despite the unsettling implications of the statement.  
“Honestly, he looks just like you did when I found you. Snapping and snarling and showing his teeth, but if you look past all of that, he's just scared.”

He sat down on the ground, keeping his body language calm and unthreatening, and after a moment, Yuu joined him, keeping a suspicious eye on the dog all the while. 

“See, if someone much taller were to approach you and stare you down, how would that make you feel?”

The boy shifted uneasily next to him, but Tomohiro did catch him finally averting his eyes from the large canine.  
Atta boy. 

“He just feels threatened, and he wants you to back off and give him some space.”

There was a pause, and the dog's growling finally subsided. It was eyeing them curiously.  
It looked much friendlier without its ears pressed so tightly against its skull, and its wide brown eyes were watching them attentively. 

“If you approach him like this, though-”  
Tomohiro carefully reached out his hand, letting the dog sniff at it for a long moment.  
A bushy white tail began to wag slowly, back and forth and back and forth, and Tomohiro chuckled, scratching the dog behind his ears.  
“-he won't feel nearly as intimidated, and he will probably give you a chance.”

He looked over at the child when he didn't hear a complaint for once.  
There was a contemplative look on Yuu's face as he studied the large animal in front of him, his whole body still and quiet.  
The world seemed to quiet down with him, almost like it was holding its breath.

It was easy to forget sometimes, the fact that this child wasn't really a child at all. 

A wistful smile found its way onto Tomohiro's face.

Yuu blinked, and the quiet moment was broken.  
“I see”, he murmured, moving to stand in slow, contained movements.  
Already, his body language was completely different from what it had been like mere moments ago.

As alien as new concepts seemed to be to the kitsune, Tomohiro was continuously impressed by how quickly he adapted to them once he actually gave them a chance.  
It was like there was barely a learning curve at all – once Yuu decided that he was going to be good at something, it was as simple as that. He set his sight on his goals with an inhuman level of focus, and then, as easy as breathing, he accomplished them.

Not human, indeed. 

It was a little scary sometimes. 

Tomohiro stopped petting the dog and got up as well, moving to stand at the child's side. 

Yuu looked up at him.  
“Thanks, I guess. Maybe those dogs will finally leave me alone now.”  
There it was. The pout.  
Tomohiro chuckled. 

“I still don't like them much. They smell. But at least they're not as bad as moths. I hate those pesky little things.”

This time, when Tomohiro burst into laughter, Yuu joined him, his bright, high laughter ringing through the neighbourhood.

* * *

“See? I told you that I'd get you to enjoy modern food!”

Yuu was barely even paying attention to his teasing, his wide eyes fixed on the popsicle he was holding.  
“It's ice!”, he exclaimed in wonder, and Tomohiro burst into laughter again. Of all the things to point out. 

“Yes, it's ice. It comes in different flavours too!”

The boy took another bite, much less hesitant this time – and maybe someone should teach this child that ice cream was supposed to be licked, not devoured, but the scene looked far too amusing for Tomohiro to interrupt.  
Could kitsune even get brain freeze? Eh, he'd be fine.  
Probably. 

A few more bites, and the ice was gone. 

Yuu was grinning, far more carefree than he had ever seen him.  
“That was awful. It tasted of nothing but sugar and artificial flavours!”, he proclaimed proudly.  
His grin turned cheeky.  
“I love it.”  
He waved the garishly coloured plastic wrapping around, still sticky from the sugary syrup. “Because this character's dumb face looks just like yours.”

Tomohiro grinned without a hint of shame, Garigari-kun grinned back at him from the colourful wrapping, and Yuu started cackling with delight.

It was nice to hear a child's laughter echoing through the old hallways of his family home again, Tomohiro decided.  
They suddenly seemed much warmer, somehow.

* * *

“Ah, by the way, you're probably going to need an official identity”, he mused one evening, a few weeks after Yuu had become a part of his life so very suddenly and inexplicably.  
“It would definitely be bad if someone were to find an undocumented child living in my home.”

“That's assuming anyone could find me!”, came the instant reply from somewhere to his left. 

Yuu had recently discovered western sports through television, and he was now kicking around an old ball he had found in some loose approximation of football.

It bounced off the wall and smacked into his little shoulder.  
The boy didn't seem to mind at all and simply kicked the ball forward again, resuming his game.

“Yeah yeah, but that aside, you really do need a proper citizenship if you want to act as my child. You can only inherit the Nishinoya household if the State actually knows that you exist, after all.”

Yuu made a contemplative sound, all at once quiet and focused again. 

“The government has a database about all the citizens. Y'know, for the important information. Address, age, date of birth, family... Stuff like that.”  
Tomohiro underlined his words with some vague and unhelpful gesturing. 

The ball stopped bouncing.  
It was caught between Yuu's small hands, and Tomohiro felt his breath still.  
There was that look in his eyes again. 

That inhuman intensity.

“Who has access to that database?”

* * *

When Tomohiro, later that night, heard a quiet rustling outside of his bedroom door and caught a brief glimpse of a seven-tailed silhouette against the lantern's light, he decided not to ask any questions. 

Nor did he ask any questions when his charge approached him the following morning, presenting him with the perfectly legal documents of one five-year-old Nishinoya Yuu.

* * *

The old bike made a horrible screeching noise as it careened forward, its wailing only outmatched by the screaming child sitting on top of it.

“My feet won't stay on!”, Yuu cried, trying in vain to reach the pedals. 

Tomohiro nodded along sagely.  
Maybe he should've adjusted the bike's height first.  
Ah well. Too late for that now.  
The boy would figure something out, he was sure. 

“Alright! We're gonna tackle turning next!”, he cheered from the sidelines, in response to the rapidly-approaching brick wall in Yuu's path.

Their neighbour was watching from her small garden, plain concern written all over her face.  
She was a young lady, pregnant with her first child and recently broken up with her fiancé. 

Tomohiro has promised himself to keep an eye on her and help her out if she ever needed anything.  
It was the gentlemanly thing to do, after all. Her current situation couldn't be an easy one.

Apparently, she had made the same promise to herself the moment she had first seen him with Yuu, though.  
“Ah, he is my grandson from the city. There has been a small incident with his parents, so he has come to live with me”, he had told her.  
She had been hovering with motherly concern ever since, much to the kitsune's bemusement.  
Not exactly a vote of confidence for Tomohiro's parenting-abilities either (not that an ancient fox spirit needed much in the way of actual parenting), but he took it in stride.  
He probably deserved it too.  
Come to think of- 

“Gramps? You might want to help him break first!”, came the slightly panicked voice of Sugiyama-san now.

Ah, right. 

That brick wall. 

There was a loud crash and an equally loud yelp, and he looked over to find the bike on its side, and Yuu on the ground next to it.  
He looked shocked, but relatively unhurt – and he seemed to have realised the same thing, looking at his scratched palms with some apprehension.  
“Huh. That wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it was gonna be”, came his matter-of-fact comment. 

Sugiyama-san let out a worried sound and hobbled over to the fallen child as quickly as her swollen belly would allow. 

Tomohiro just grinned.

* * *

Up here on the hill, the town's noise didn't reach them at all.

It was quiet. 

Instead, the countless buildings stretched out before them like a miniature display, tiny from up here, their lines and shadows thrown into stark contrast by the low sun. And there, beyond them, the ocean shimmered and gleamed like it was trying to put on a special show, vast and unfathomable.

The sunset seemed to paint the whole world in new colours; warm and bright, comforting and calm, and yet also strangely melancholic and contemplative.

With the long shadows and the distant horizon, it felt like the whole world was laid out before them, just out of reach.

Yuu was sitting in the grass next to his bike, staring out into the distance with an oddly sombre expression.  
Tomohiro once again remembered the name he had introduced himself with – _The Evening Sun that Sets on This Land_ , he had said – and he wondered what this view might mean to him. 

There was a lot he didn't know about Yuu, the kitsune.

He did, however, know Yuu, the boy. 

It had been a few months now, since he had joined him in his home.  
A few months of the boy finally reaching out to the world, hesitantly letting it in.  
A few months of trying out new foods, introducing him to new ideas and fondly watching his wide-eyed awe every time he discovered a new piece of technology. 

Slowly but surely, his fear and skittish shyness had given way to bright-eyed curiosity and unapologetic enthusiasm for every new thing he encountered. 

Yuu had practically had stars in his eyes when Sugiyama-san had returned from the hospital with her newborn daughter and had allowed the boy to hold little Ume-chan.  
Something had changed in him then, Tomohiro thought. 

He had watched the boy sit there, the baby in his arms gurgling and flailing her little hands up at him, and he saw that sharp intensity return to his eyes.  
Except it hadn't been quite the same as before – there was something soft to his expression now, something awed and almost fragile, but no less powerful for it. 

No, his expression had been as fierce as it had been gentle. 

Tomohiro knew protectiveness when he saw it, but coupled with that inhuman intensity, it was quite the sight to behold. 

He hoped right then and there that no one would ever come between Yuu and those he deemed worthy of his protection.  
It wouldn't be pretty, that much was clear. 

A few weeks later, they had celebrated Yuu's pretend-sixth birthday on the random date the fox had chosen for his legal documents (“How old are you actually?”, Tomohiro had asked, and only received a snort in response), but Tomohiro had gotten them some proper cake and presents anyway, much to his charge's surprise and delight.  
He never said 'no' to a party.

Even Sugiyama-san had come over to celebrate, bringing Ume-chan along – which was, perhaps, the best birthday present she could have possibly given to Yuu.  
He adored the little girl fiercely, and he had taken to caring for her as easily as he had to pretty much anything else. 

Sugiyama-san had looked on with pride as she watched him play with the baby, never too rough and always carefully aware of their surroundings.  
“I'm glad that Yuu-chan has come to live here. Ume would have grown up as an only child otherwise, but thanks to him, she has a big brother now.”  
She had turned around and given him a low bow, a smile crinkling at her eyes. “And I will continue to rely on your guidance as well. Thank you for everything, Gramps.”

Tomohiro had looked on with an odd, warm feeling in his chest.  
Yeah, he had realised. She was right. 

Was this what it felt like to have a family of his own?

A contented smile played on his lips now, as he watched the sun slowly dip lower and lower towards the horizon.  
The light breeze was chilly with the first cold snap of winter, but for now, the sunlight was still warm enough to be comfortable. 

The sweet, nostalgic fragrance of fresh hay hung heavy in the air up here, and he breathed in deeply. 

It was strange.  
When had he last felt this at peace?  
The last few decades of his life felt like a strange blur to him these days, empty and unfulfilled. 

He glanced at the boy sitting a few feet away from him, staring intently out at the red-painted horizon. 

Who could have guessed that he had needed this so much? 

Maybe he was growing sentimental in his old age. 

Still, an odd sense of inspiration hung in the air around him, and he felt compelled to voice his thoughts. 

“Yuu, my boy”, he began.  
The child looked over at him curiously. 

“Do you know what's so bad about being scared of something?”

Yuu didn't seem fazed at all by the strange question, scrunching up his face in thought.  
“Because... It isn't manly...?”, he tried, probably guessing at Tomohiro's usual train of thought. 

Which was fair enough.  
But also not what he meant. Not today. 

“No”, he said, ruffling the child's hair despite his protests. “Because it's a waste.”

That gave Yuu pause, and he stilled, giving Tomohiro all of his quiet attention. 

“To not confirm whether a food you've dismissed without ever having tasted it is truly as bad as you think it is, to not understand the reasons underlying an animal's aggressive behaviour, to not ever find out how far you can go on a bike... To not know any of those things and have it all just end there would be such an incredible waste.”

Yuu was quiet for a long moment, his gaze locked onto Tomohiro with all of its unsettling intensity.  
In the low light, his slitted pupils were clearly visible.  
Once again, Tomohiro got the vivid impression that he was being sized up by a predator – but this time, there was no threat to the idea, no danger lurking on the other side. 

There was simply Yuu, and a question. 

“What if I'm still scared, despite all that?”

Tomohiro smiled, that persistent warm feeling once again filling up his chest.  
He reached out to ruffle the boy's hair, and wasn't met with any protest this time. 

“That's an easy question!”, he murmured fondly.  
“You get help.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This week's struggle: 
> 
> Trying to reconcile Nishinoya "When I was a little kid, I was a huge scaredy-cat" Yuu with him being an ancient fox spirit - as well as with his older self in general. He has changed so much since he was a child, it was difficult to write him in a way that felt natural.  
> Adding little Ume-chan really helped me in that regard - she is one of the biggest catalysts for his growth and change here, and she helps me define the ways in which he is going to develop into the Noya we've come to know and love in the Haikyuu canon.
> 
> Quite a few lines in this chapter were taken directly from chapter 278 of the manga, by the way.  
> Maybe you recognised them.


	3. Another Prodigy

Yuu tugged on the hem of his vest with a doubtful frown, the navy fabric feeling stiff and unwieldy between his fingers.  
He narrowed his eyes at himself in the mirror and studied his reflection once again. 

Nah.  
He still didn't like it. 

He didn't terribly mind the thought of going through school – after all, if he was going to live a human life, he would need to know human things. Gramps wasn't wrong when he said that there was a lot he needed to catch up on.  
It wouldn't be the first time he did this (though his last education was probably well and truly outdated, he mused), and there was a chance that it wouldn't be the last time either. 

After all, who was he to presume what the future might hold?

Still, this part was new.  
And it was definitely unwelcome.

The school uniform was distinctly Western in its style, and unlike any clothing he had ever worn. 

He was clad in a crisp white shirt with a sharply cut vest on top of it, topped off with a striped tie around his neck.  
The vest and his pants were made from the same stiff fabric, chequered in two different shades of navy.  
On his chest, proudly emblazoned in silver embroidery, were the words _Torinosu Elementary School_.

He supposed that, on an adult, this sort of outfit might've looked smart and put-together.  
On a child like himself though, it decidedly did not. 

He snorted. 

He looked like one of those fancy dress-up dolls he had seen in the shops Gramps had taken him to.  
It was a presumptuous kind of outfit.

Besides, it was far too uncomfortable for his liking.  
This human body already didn't allow for the kind of mobility he was used to, and wearing restrictive clothing like this only further limited his movement. 

Ah well.  
He would continue playing and moving as he usually did.  
The fabric could either comply and play along, or it could break.  
There wasn't much of a difference, as far as he was concerned – either way, he would move freely.

He shifted his weight onto the balls of his feet and did a few experimental hops where he stood.  
Up and down, up and down, up and down.  
The vest shifted uncomfortably in response to his movement, but there was some give. 

Yuu grinned.  
As expected. He'd whip this pesky fabric into shape in no time.

“Well, don't you look modern!”, came Gramps' jovial comment from behind him, and Yuu spun around with an easy smile, having heard him coming from down the hall.  
He struck a pose, just for dramatic effect (besides, he had seen some of the super heroes on TV do it, and it was _cool_ ), and stayed like that – legs spread and right arm raised above his head – for all of two seconds before going back to his bouncing. 

“'Modern' is right”, he returned with a bright grin.  
“Back in my day, we didn't force children into ridiculous costumes like this!”

Gramps just laughed.  
“I doubt that. That outfit doesn't hold a candle to some of the historic kimonos I've seen. If anything, clothes have gotten a lot less complicated.”

He reached down to ruffle his hair, and Yuu leaned into the touch gratefully.  
It had been a strange sensation at first – he hadn't been used to being touched.  
But he liked it. It was nice, and warm. 

It felt like home.

He didn't regret coming here. 

“Well, you should be on your way, shouldn't you? You don't want to miss your Entrance Ceremony!”

Yuu gave him a lopsided smirk.  
“Relax. I've got a ton of time left.”

It was true.  
He was an early riser by habit, usually up before the dawn (much to Gramps' dismay, which only added to his own delight), and today had been no different.  
Getting into the strange new clothes had taken a while, but even then, he still had close to an hour left before the ceremonies would begin. 

The school wasn't that far from here either. 

“You sure that you don't want to come? The first day of school is supposed to be a big family event, right?”

“Sure, I'd come if you were an actual child in need of actual guidance. But it's not like you need my help getting there. And once the Entrance Ceremony is over, I'd have to leave anyway, so there's not much point in me going in the first place.”  
Gramps winked.  
“Besides, this is my first day home alone in months! I'm gonna use it well! Aiko-chan is coming over from the love hotel in an hour, and we're going to enjoy this blessedly child-free environment while it lasts!”

Yuu cackled, punching him in the arm.  
“You dog! Alright alright, have your fun. I don't even want to know.”

He slipped on his sneakers, grabbed his backpack, and was out of the door before Gramps could make another comment. 

The old man's cheerful laughter did, however, follow him out into the clear April air, and Yuu took a moment to breathe in the cool fragrance of Spring and nature's awakening.  
Sakura petals were waving at him from their branches up high as he passed down below, running for the sheer joy of it and whistling along to the bird song.

It was good to be alive. 

It was such a simple thing, but so easy to grasp in moments like these.  
The quick _thud thud thud_ of his shoes against the pavement, the sun-dappled green of the new leaves all around him, still so fresh and fragile, the hazy little clouds travelling across the bright blue sky- 

A moment of simple perfection, humble and small and so endlessly important.

It was such a simple thing, the joy of moments like these.  
You just had to open your eyes and embrace them, and then grasp that feeling with both hands until the joy of it filled every corner of your being to the brim, spilling over at the seams. 

Yuu threw his arms wide open and let the feeling bubble out of him, his laughter bright and clear in the Spring air. 

It was _so good_ to be alive.

He quickened his pace and jumped, thrilled at the way the cool morning air whipped past his body. His shoes made a satisfying _slap_ against the pavement when he landed, and he decided that it would be grand to jump again, just for the heck of it. 

The stiff fabric of his pants twisted around his legs and he stumbled, missing his landing and hitting the pavement instead. 

Ah well. 

The momentum of his fall pulled him forwards and he allowed his instincts to take over, ducking his head and rolling.  
The world blurred past in one quick spin, and then he was back on his feet. 

His shoulder ached a little where it had met the ground, but already, the almost-pain was forgotten in favour of the sheer thrill that had accompanied his tumble. 

Yuu laughed.

“Again!”, he cheered and dove forward once more, relishing in the way gravity seemed to momentarily forget about him.

* * *

By the time he made it to the school building, his hair was a windswept mess and he was grinning so hard that his cheeks hurt.  
He brushed off the worst of the dirt (the stupid uniform deserved it anyway) and carded his hands through his wild hair until he deemed it presentable. 

Other children and their families were swarming in through the open school gates, and the air was filled with nervous chatter. 

Yuu waved cheerfully at all the students he caught glancing his way and got a few shy smiles in return.  
Approaching strangers was a pretty difficult thing, after all. He'd help them bridge the gap if they couldn't do it on their own. 

Asking for help was okay. 

He followed the crowd's general direction and found the school auditorium, already mostly filled with parents and their children despite the early hour.  
One boy to his right was crying big, ugly tears and clutching a yellow stuffed unicorn, his parents desperately trying to reassure him and casting embarrassed glances at the staring crowd. 

Poor kid.  
Maybe the anxiety had gotten to him. 

Yuu rushed over and summoned the joy of his morning run in the form of a sunny grin.  
“Hey!”, he called, pulling a neatly folded handkerchief out of his backpack and flinging it out to the other boy.  
He struck the hero pose from TV again, just because he could.  
“I'm Nishinoya Yuu, and I'm gonna be your friend now! What's your name?”

The boy blinked at him dumbly for a moment, kneading his yellow unicorn between his hands.  
It looked worn and threadbare, like a toy well-loved.  
He hesitantly reached out and took the handkerchief, drying his face with it clumsily. 

His parents breathed a sigh of relief and backed off a few steps, smiling at the gathered people placatingly. 

The boy looked back up at Yuu and mumbled something quiet, ducking his head in thanks. 

“Come on dear, speak up”, his mother tittered as she gave him a gentle pat on the head.  
The boy flushed. 

Yuu just smiled even brighter, hoping to pass some of his own newfound confidence on to the other kid. 

“I'm Tamura Nori”, came the meek voice again, a bit more audible this time.  
A polite bow followed. “It's nice to meet you.”

Yuu laughed happily.  
“Nori it is! You can call me Yuu if you want! Say, Nori, do you want to sit next to me during the ceremony? I don't know anyone here yet!” 

Yuu went back to bouncing on the balls of his feet while he waited for a reply – back and forth, back and forth, back and-  
Nori's mother smiled at him and squeezed the boy's shoulder in a reassuring way, and Nori buried his flushed face in the rough fur of his yellow unicorn, bopping his head up and down in a timid nod. 

Yuu followed the family to the seats they had picked – close to the front, towards the left side of the room – and unceremoniously dropped down next to his new friend. 

Nori was throwing shy glances at Yuu every now and then, all the while fidgeting with his toy – now that he was closer, Yuu could see faded streaks of orange in the unicorn's mane, like someone had once tried to colour it in with sharpie, only to give up after a few minutes. 

It was charming. 

The room gradually quieted as more people arrived and found their seats, and eventually, the principal took the stage, greeting the new students and introducing the teaching staff one by one. 

It was terribly boring.

Yuu was only somewhat paying attention, instead watching the gathered people and studying the faces of the other students and their families intently.  
Some of them seemed happy, others scared, and some just looked indifferent. All of them were exuding a subtle kind of nervous tension though, like this was some big, important event.

Yuu didn't really get it.  
It was just elementary school.  
Nothing that could happen here would impact their lives in any significant way if they didn't want it to. 

Humans were so strange sometimes. 

A shuffling sound from his left caught his attention and he turned his head, looking over at Nori next to him. 

The other boy stole a quick glance at his parents, making sure they were paying rapt attention to the principal's speech, before he subtly turned back around to face Yuu.  
He leaned forwards conspirationally, waving his unicorn. 

“His name it Rapidash”, he proudly proclaimed in a whisper.  
“I really like Pokémon.”

Yuu gave a quiet “oooh!” and grinned.  
It felt like they were sharing some big secret, whispering like this during the principal's speech.  
Maybe they were, as far as Nori was concerned. 

“Do you want to play together sometime?”

Yuu grinned widely and nodded, giving his new buddy a thumbs up.  
“Totally!”

Nori smiled. 

Yuu felt pretty good about that.

* * *

The principal talked for a while longer, and after her, different staff members took the stage and talked some more, and then the students' names were called by the homeroom teachers one-by-one as the respective classes were announced. 

Yuu found himself in the group of class 1-B, taught by a stern-looking bald man who had introduced himself as Ueno-sensei, and (lucky!) not separated from Nori. 

Ueno-sensei gave them a small tour of the school, showing them the different buildings and the track field, as well as the gymnasium. 

It was certainly different from any school Yuu had ever seen back in the day – not that that was saying much.  
The other children looked just as excited as him in any case, pointing and chattering and casting curious looks at the upperclassmen who were cheering and singing their welcome-songs on the sidelines.

The nervous tension from earlier had all but disappeared now that the parents were gone. 

“Alright, kids”, Ueno-sensei declared, stopping in front of a group of second years that were just finishing their little choir performance and waving excitedly.  
“This is class 2-A. You're going to pair up with them, one on one, and they're going to show you to your homeroom on the second floor. If you have any questions, feel free to ask them, and your senpais will answer to the best of their ability.” 

He excused himself with a friendly smile and headed inside, while the two classes hesitantly approached one another.  
Some of the bolder students started mingling, and Yuu used the opportunity to nudge Nori towards an assertive-looking girl from the senior class. She took one look at the younger boy and seemingly decided to take him under her wing, grabbing his hand and leading him towards the main building, chattering at him in a loud, cheerful voice all the while.

His new friend in good hands, Yuu swept his gaze over the remaining children. 

Most had already partnered up, and-  
His eyes landed on an older boy who was scowling down at two decidedly uncomfortable-looking first years.

“Hey! You're scaring them!”  
He hurried over and stepped between the two sniffling kids and the senior, who gave him an affronted look. 

“Scaring them? I was just-”

The two younger children used that opportunity to duck their heads and flee back into the crowd. 

Yuu simply crossed his arms, giving the senior an unimpressed glare. 

“Wait, was I- Was I really scaring them?”, he asked, seemingly nonplussed.  
“I was just asking them to join the volleyball club. Maybe I was too insistent? Aww man...”

He carded a hand through his hair, looking pensive.  
Though he wasn't much taller than Yuu himself, the stupid school uniform somehow didn't look as out-of-place on the older boy.  
Maybe it had something to do with the haughty way he held himself. 

“Sorry about that. I get a bit carried away sometimes.”

His eyes zeroed in on Yuu. 

“But hey, if they won't join, what about you? Do you want to play volleyball? I'm supposed to be recruiting new students for the club!”

The truth was, Yuu didn't care all that much about which sport he would end up doing.  
He would've probably just joined whichever club asked him first, anyway – it didn't really matter to him, as long as he could do his best on a team. 

Still, there was something about this boy in front of him, his unruly brown hair and the earnest light that had ignited in his eyes the moment he had started talking about volleyball.  
It felt just a little bit like fate. 

And Yuu knew better than to deny fate. 

“Sure, why not? Sounds great!”, he grinned, and the other boy's face lit up in turn. 

“You like volleyball too? It's so cool, right?”  
He flailed his arms around excitedly, making movements that Yuu vaguely recognised as passes and spikes, and he felt himself get swept up in the thrill, imitating the poses to the best of his ability. 

The older boy suddenly paused, as if realising something. 

“Oh whoops, I was supposed to show you your homeroom. Right.”

Yuu looked up as well.  
The plaza in front of the school building was deserted, and they were the only ones left. 

“Come on, hurry up!”

He followed after the senpai, who was already a few steps ahead of him, and entered the school building.  
It smelled of stale air, trapped sunlight, packed lunches and chalk, and the air was filled with the sounds of distant footsteps and lazy conversation. 

“Put your shoes over there!”, came the energetic shout, coupled with a vague hand motion towards the lockers by the front door.  
Yuu complied and hastily searched for the locker with his name on it, changing his shoes as quickly as he could. 

His senpai was already halfway up the wooden staircase to his right by the time he was done, and Yuu grinned as he hurried after him. 

Up the stairs, take the hallway on the left, take another left, go straight ahead- 

“Here are the classrooms for the first years!”, the senior announced, coming to a skidding halt at the beginning of a brightly-lit corridor.  
Yuu almost collided with the older boy's back, only just barely managing to stop himself in time.

The hallway was decorated top-to-bottom in pastel-coloured paper cut-outs of flowers and petals, friendly and cheerful.  
Someone had probably worked very hard on these decorations.  
This school felt like a nice place.

“You're in class 1-B, right? That means you're in that homeroom over there!”, the senior exclaimed triumphantly, pointing out the middle door. “Easy enough, right?”

Yuu nodded, already moving forwards. 

“Don't forget to come to practice! Remember, you promised! We meet after class in gym three!”  
The senpai paused, coming up short.  
“I never asked your name, did I?”, he said, a hint of embarrassment creeping into his voice.  
“Man, I'm really not at my best today.”

Yuu smiled, taking his exuberance in stride.  
“Right, right. I'm Nishinoya Yuu, class 1-B, nice to meet you!”

He bowed, because he wasn't without manners. It was only polite.

“Yuu-chan, is it? I'll remember that.”  
The senior waved cheekily as he turned to leave.  
“I'm Oikawa Tooru. See you at practice tomorrow, Yuu-chan!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me: Noya and Oikawa clearly have a history, alright, I'm gonna make them rivals in middle school! 
> 
> Me, waking up at 4am in a cold sweat: BUT WHAT IF THEY PLAYED ON THE SAME TEAM IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL-
> 
> And now that he's basically the person we know him as in canon (except a bit smaller), here's the Noya POV I've been dreading!   
> I'm not quite satisfied with it just yet, but ah well. I'm sure I'll get the hang of it eventually. This will do for now, until I've got a better grasp on the kind of inner voice I want to write him with. 
> 
> Before you go, I'd like to ask you for your help.   
> I've done some research of my own, but I don't know all that much about volleyball tournaments in Japan's elementary and junior high schools, aside from the vague things Haikyuu tells us about the younger grades.   
> Which is a problem, because this fic will obviously go there eventually, and I dislike grasping at straws. I'd like to keep things as accurate and canonical as possible.   
> If you know anything about the volleyball tournaments for the younger grades, please let me know!
> 
> And as always, thank you for reading. <3


	4. Base Talent and a Little Monster

Oikawa Tooru was seven years old, and as far as he was concerned, there were four facts of life: Iwa-chan was kind of a jerk, the Argentine volleyball team was amazing, José Blanco was a hero, and his position, the setter, was by far the coolest role in the game. 

He was also quickly learning that volleyball in elementary school was far from as exciting as the big matches on TV. 

“Alright alright everyone, come gather around!”, Moto-sensei called, clapping her hands to get everyone's attention.  
She was a rotund woman with a soft face and a gentle smile, always clad in the club's distinctive yellow jacket.  
Tooru didn't really understand how someone like her had managed to become a sports teacher, much less the coach of a volleyball team.  
She was nice, but he didn't think he had seen her run even once over the course of the year he had been here – she didn't seem like the athletic type at all. 

Not everyone here was as serious about volleyball as him and Iwa-chan were, he supposed. 

He jogged over to join the group of kids that had started to gather around their coach.  
They were a pretty large club, as was usually the case in elementary school. Six grades in one school building meant that only the best and oldest amongst them got to play as regulars on the official team. 

Tooru was determined to make the cut one day. 

“As you know”, Moto-sensei began, and Tooru turned his focus back to her, “the new first-years will be joining us today. They only just had their Entrance Ceremony yesterday and their first proper day of school today, so I'm sure they're all feeling very overwhelmed. Be nice to them, and be patient! I'm sure a lot of them have never played volleyball before.”

A cheerful chorus of “osu!” answered her, and Tooru couldn't hide his own excitement as he joined in. 

He hoped Yuu-chan would keep his promise – after all, Tooru had invited him personally.  
He would make sure to be a good and admirable senpai, now that he was a second-year. 

“Hey, Baka-kawa, are you getting a big head over something again?”, came Iwa-chan's snide voice from his left, and Tooru turned around with a pout. 

“That's mean, Iwa-chan!”, he complained. “Remember that guy I told you about yesterday? I was just wondering if he's actually any good.” 

To his credit, Iwa-chan nodded along without giving out any more rude commentary. 

Tooru opened his mouth to add something else, only to get interrupted by Moto-sensei clearing her throat.  
“I know this is very exciting for all of you, but I want you to be on your best behaviour. Got it? Now then, they should arrive in a few more minutes. Let's start getting warmed up, so we can show them why the volleyball club is the best club at this school!”

Her enthusiastic fist pump was matched by another loud chorus of “osu!” as the students took off running.  
“Hey! Pace yourselves!”, she called after them. “Don't start sprinting right away, that's not what warm-ups are for!” 

Tooru didn't listen to her, doing his best to keep up with the older children and their much longer legs.  
Iwa-chan was keeping pace with him, a disgruntled expression on his face. 

They were both breathing hard by the time they started their fourth lap around the gym, and Tooru felt Iwa-chan's hand on his wrist, tugging him back into a more measured pace.  
He watched the older students' retreating backs as the distance between them increased, a sour feeling curling in his stomach. 

“Baka-kawa”, Iwa-chan panted, grimacing at him.  
“What did you think was gonna happen? The sixth-years are much bigger than us, and they've been doing this for much longer! Who are you even trying to impress?”

Tooru didn't respond.  
He didn't think “myself” would make for a very good answer. 

Judging by the look Iwa-chan was giving him, he might already know anyway. 

Iwa-chan always knew, somehow. 

He gave an annoyed sigh and slowed to a walk as sensei was calling out instructions to start stretching. 

“I just want to be on the court, you know?”, Tooru murmured quietly.  
Along with the rest of the group, he spread his legs and bent low, feeling the muscles in his calves go taut. His hands lay flat against the polished wood of the gym floor.  
It was pleasantly cool against his sweaty palms.

He glanced at his friend through the triangle of his legs, upside-down.  
“I know that we get to play lots during practice, but it's just not the same. The seniors get to play in real matches, and I don't want to wait years and years until I can do the same!”

He shifted his weight, lowering his upper body onto his left leg as far as he could reach.  
His muscles twinged in protest, but he simply breathed out, letting the tension flow away. 

“It can't be helped. You can't force stuff like that”, Iwa-chan replied in a tight voice.  
“Some things just take time. We'll get there eventually.”

Shift. Back to the middle. 

“I know”, Tooru admitted quietly.  
“But I can't help it. I really want to play.” 

Shift. Right leg. 

“Yeah.” Iwa-chan wasn't looking at him, his eyes narrowed in concentration as he lowered his body even closer to the ground.  
“Me too.” 

They spent the rest of the stretching session in silence, the quiet around them only interrupted by sensei's instructions and their own laboured breathing.

* * *

“Ah, this will be the first-years then!”, came Moto-sensei's cheerful voice from the front of the gym as they watched the door swing open. 

A group of anxious-looking boys and girls shuffled inside, eyeing the gymnasium warily.  
Tooru vaguely recognised some of them from the day before.  
Where was- 

“Ah, Iwa-chan, there he is!”, he shouted, pointing to the back of the group excitedly. 

Yuu-chan must have heard him, because he waved back at him with an equal amount of excitement, seemingly completely unaffected by the nervous energy of the group around him.

Tooru had thought so yesterday already, but Yuu really was a strange kid.  
Granted, he had looked a lot more out-of-place in his formal uniform than he did in his casual gym clothes now, but there was still something distinctly _off_ about him.  
There was a presence to him, maybe – he was just one small child amongst many others in a very large room, but now that he was in it, the room didn't feel quite as large anymore, like he was filling it out completely just by being there. 

He was drawing people's eyes, too – they were all staring at the kid, Tooru realised.  
What the hell. 

Maybe it was his hair.  
It was hanging around his face in too-long strands, and then there was that blonde streak – it admittedly looked very cool, but was that even allowed by the dress code? 

What kind of parents allowed their elementary school kids to bleach their hair, anyway? 

Tooru kind of wondered if- 

“Don't even think about it”, came Iwa-chan's warning voice from the right.  
His glare was almost audible. 

“Aww, but Iwa-chan! I didn't even say anything!”

The other scoffed, giving him one of his Looks.  
“No. You already look like a moron. You'd just look like even more of a Dumb-kawa if you bleached your hair!”

Tooru gasped in offence, and he would've made Iwa-chan regret those words right then and there, if Yuu-chan hadn't chosen that moment to come running over. 

“Tooru, right? I came, like I promised I would!”  
His smile was so warm and bright that Tooru couldn't even find it in himself to mind the unexpected use of his first name by his kouhai. They were only one year apart, anyway. It was fine. 

“Right!”, he replied with an equal amount of cheer.  
“Yuu-chan, this is Iwa-chan, my best friend!”

“Iwaizumi Hajime”, his friend corrected him with a long-suffering sigh. 

Yuu bowed at the waist with the same inexplicable formality he had displayed the day before, though the stiffness of the gesture was somewhat alleviated by the loudness of his voice.  
“My name is Nishinoya Yuu. It's nice to meet you, Hajime-san!”

“How come you get a 'san' and I don't?”, Tooru complained under his breath. 

Iwa-chan's smug grin was his only reply. 

“Alright, kids! Be quiet for a moment, please”, came Moto-sensei's patient voice from the front, where the other first-years had shyly gathered behind her.  
“First of all, let's welcome our new members. I'm Moto Haia, and I am this club's coach. Please come to me whenever you have questions or concerns. Now then... Do any of you have any prior experience with volleyball?”

* * *

Yuu had said that he had never played volleyball before, and he _did_ still seem a little awkward at handling the ball, but apart from that, Tooru wouldn't have thought him inexperienced at all. His every movement looked sure and self-assured. 

It was almost a little unfair.

They were running through some easy exercises with the new kids, just passing the ball back and forth to get them used to its feel and heft, while Moto-sensei was giving them pointers about their form and stance. 

Tooru knew that his own toss was far from perfect yet – he usually managed to set the ball in the direction he wanted it to go, but there wasn't much precision or finesse to it. 

Not that any of the other kids were faring much better. 

It meant that there were children running all over the place, trying to clumsily receive each other's missed tosses and hopelessly dashing after lost balls without any rhyme or reason. 

Yuu though-  
Yuu was different. 

Tooru winced when the ball left his hands, already keenly aware that the toss didn't feel right at all. “Ahh! Sorry, it's long!”

He watched it swerve off to the left with far too much speed and force, far out of the range they had been playing in. 

But Yuu just _moved_ , with such certainty and fluidity that Tooru was almost sure that he must have known precisely where the ball would go – had he _seen_ it? – and then he was there, and with one graceful dive that looked more like the leap of a cat than anything a human body should be able to produce, the ball was up in the air again, sailing in Tooru's direction. 

It was unlike anything he had seen before.

It wasn't a perfect receive, of course – the ball flew awkwardly and landed several metres short of Tooru's position.  
But still. 

But still, the gym had fallen silent around them. 

Everyone was staring. 

Yuu rolled and landed back on his feet smoothly, spinning around with a bright grin.  
He didn't seem bothered by the attention at all.  
Maybe he didn't even notice the countless eyes that were trained on him. 

Or maybe he just didn't care. 

“Wow, Yuu-chan”, Tooru managed, somewhere between impressed and jealous of the other's casual display of raw talent.  
“That was an insane save! Are you sure that today is your first day playing volleyball?”

People around them were whispering to each other and exchanging glances.  
Clearly, Tooru wasn't the only one who had been caught off-guard. 

Yuu nodded, a determined gleam in his eyes.  
“Yeah! That's why that receive was so off. It didn't feel right at all when it went up.” 

He shook his arms out, gazing at his reddening skin with curiosity, like he hadn't just harshly criticised his own amazing play.  
“But wow, that sure stings! You've got a lot of power, Tooru!”

Emboldened by the compliment, Tooru returned his grin, still feeling a little wrong-footed.  
“Yeah, I do! I'm gonna be the best setter in the world one day, so I've been working on my serves. I'm pretty good, right?”  
He walked over to Yuu, bending down to pick up the ball along the way.

Yuu was still fussing with the red patches on his forearms when he arrived. 

“Don't worry too much about those”, he reassured with an easy smirk.  
“Receiving hurts at first, but your body gets used to it in no time. Your arms will get stronger, and after a few training sessions, you'll barely even feel it anymore. Your skin will stop getting so tender after every receive, too.” 

He cocked an eyebrow at the obvious bruises surrounding Yuu's elbows, the mottled red only just settling in.  
“But if you keep diving like that, you're sure to get a lot more of those. Well, there are exercises to help get your body used to it, but I hate those. Diving drills are the worst!” 

He prodded at one of the bruises with a pointed finger, and Yuu slapped his hand away, laughing.  
“Hey! Ow!”  
He grinned up at Oikawa with a smile that was a little bit dizzying – it made him feel like he was staring straight at the sun. 

A smile that felt warm and bright, and all-encompassing. 

Tooru swallowed, and glanced away.  
Yuu-chan was... _a lot_. 

He had only known him for a few hours, and he could already tell that the boy wasn't like anyone else he had ever met. 

How anyone could be such a walking contradiction, he didn't know.  
Yuu seemed both too loud and too quiet, too carefree and too focused, too reckless and too calculated all at once. 

He was like living sunshine, but somehow like the shadows it left in its wake as well. 

Or maybe he was like a summer storm – like brilliant lightning against a sombre sky, like wind and rain, an overpowering, commanding force of nature.

It was overwhelming. 

Tooru didn't know how to respond to any of it. 

But he did know one thing. 

“Hey, Yuu-chan?”

Yuu made an affirmative sound, looking at him curiously, his eyes somehow both warm and piercing at the same time. 

Tooru smirked. 

“When I become this club's official setter, I want you on my team.”

Tooru couldn't see it with his back turned, but behind them, Moto-sensei gave the duo a small smile, nodding with approval.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoops, guess I ran away from doing Noya POV again. :D 
> 
> In my defense, he's just so much easier to portray from an outside perspective.  
> After all, he's never amazed by the amazing things he does - it's usually only others who see how impressive he really is.  
> The only person who doesn't acknowledge Nishinoya's genius is probably Nishinoya himself.


	5. Smiles

“A flawless set from Blanco! Pereyra spikes it home with a powerful back attack!”

Any further commentary was drowned out by Tooru's loud cheer as he jumped up and pointed at the TV screen, his grin bright with wonder and excitement.  
“Did you see that? Did you see what he just did? He went-” He flailed his arms around, trying to imitate the pro's sure posture and movement, nearly smacking Yuu in the face in the process. 

“That receive was short! He had to bend over backwards to catch it like he did, but he still set it like it was nothing!”  
Tooru beamed at his hands, as if he could will them into performing similar miracles just by staring at them hard enough.  
“He's just so good! I want to be like him one day!” 

Even Hajime-san seemed suitably impressed, though Yuu couldn't tell if it was by Blanco's set or by the spike from Pereyra that had followed it. 

Rightfully so, Yuu thought to himself, quietly studying the focused way the players moved across the court.  
The finer points of volleyball still eluded him – after all, he'd only been playing for a few months so far, and an elementary school club was nothing compared to the professional court. 

A lot of their movements still looked random and lucky to him – the children in his club were easy to read, their body language almost as loud as their own enthusiastic shouts and yells, but the professionals had mastered the art of hiding their tells.  
They seemed almost impossible to predict. 

And yet... 

There were players on that court who could clearly see patterns in the controlled movements, if their own responses were anything to go by. 

“Did I tell you about that time I spoke to Blanco-san? He said 'ganbari' to me when I told him that I wanted to be a setter too!”  
Tooru had, in fact, told him this story before. At least twenty times. He had also shown him the signed jockstrap that was framed above his bed. The ink had looked somewhat washed out, and the name had been difficult to read.  
This, however, didn't stop Yuu from high-fiving his friend with just as much enthusiasm as he had done the first nineteen times, joining him in his giddy chorus of “So cool, so cool, so cool!”.

“Shhhhh!”, they were interrupted by the third person in the room. “It's continuing!” 

Pereyra stepped up to serve, and they fell quiet.  
He moved back from the baseline in measured steps, weighting the ball in his right hand.  
“He's going back so far!”, Hajime-san commented, transfixed. “Watch, it's gonna be a jump serve!”

Yuu stared, his eyes fixed on the court.  
There was the shrill sound of a whistle, and Pereyra turned around, sprinting forward for his run-up, throwing the ball into the air in an elegant, perfect arc. 

On the opposite court, the libero moved. 

To be perfectly honest: Yuu didn't know his name.  
He wasn't even sure what his team was called, or what region they represented.  
It was a simple fact that Oikawa Tooru followed Argentina's matches with a near-religious passion, and he watched all of their games, no matter who the opponent was.  
As a result, Oikawa Tooru's friends found themselves watching their matches with him on a regular basis, whether they wanted to or not.  
This was one of those times, and Yuu knew nothing about this team. 

At any rate, this unknown player stood out amongst the dark uniforms of his teammates, clad, as he was, in a bright and confident purple.  
He drew Yuu's eyes like a beacon. 

He shifted towards the net just as Pereyra jumped, and.  
And Yuu _saw_ it.  
The other players were moving towards the back of the court, anticipating a spiked serve just as Hajime-san had. 

But Pereyra's jump didn't look right.  
The angle was all wrong. It looked more like- 

“...a floater”, Yuu breathed, his eyes fixed on the grainy footage as Pereyra hit the ball with a flat palm, killing the spin and sending it flying towards the net, where it suddenly dipped towards the empty floor. 

But by then, the floor wasn't empty anymore. 

A pair of hands stopped the ball's downward momentum, and just like that, it was back up in the air, a perfect overhand receive aimed towards the setter.  
A set, a spike, and the sound of a whistle when the point was scored, quickly drowned out by the cheering audience. 

The libero simply went back to his spot, resetting his stance and facing the opposite court, calm and collected. 

He had made it look like the ball had come to him.  
Like he had just happened to be in the right place at the right time for that perfect receive. 

But Yuu had seen him move.  
He had seen him read the attack. He had seen him position himself accordingly. 

“Amazing”, he muttered, his eyes still transfixed by the pixelated purple jersey.  
“Amazing”, he repeated quietly to himself. 

This person was incredible. 

The commentators didn't mention him at all, instead choosing to speak about the spike set that had followed his receive.  
To receive a ball so perfectly that it didn't make you stand out at all – such a natural movement that it didn't require any flashy plays – the concept seemed as enticing and far away to him as the distant, shimmering stars hung in the night sky. 

Just how good did you have to be to move so freely across the court? 

He was so absorbed in his thoughts that he didn't notice Tooru and Hajime-san exchange very startled glances.  
“How did he know that was gonna be a floater?”, Tooru whispered to his friend, casting a sharp glance at the first-year to their left.  
Iwaizumi only shook his head, looking deeply unsettled somehow.

* * *

“Hey Tooru, do you have any books on volleyball rules?” 

Tooru looked up from his magazine (“ _The top 10 high school setters in Japan!_ ”, his current page proudly proclaimed), only to flail backwards when his head almost collided with Yuu's, who had been leaning over his shoulder. 

He was far too close. Didn't he know what personal space was? 

“You're far too close! Don't you know what personal space is?”, Tooru complained, sensibly voicing his thoughts.  
“Besides, even if I did have books, could you even read them? You've only been at school for what, ten weeks?”

“Not like you're much that older than me”, Yuu pouted. “I'm sure you've got some books in hiragana, right?”  
Tooru shrugged and put aside his magazine, scooting over to a shelf next to his bed and rifling through the older volumes he had collected. 

“Aha!”, he cheered and pulled out a battered magazine. The pages were dog-eared and bent from use; it was one of his favourite volumes.  
He grinned confidently as he extended it towards Yuu with a dramatic flourish. 

“Of course! Your senpai is always prepared! I can even help you read it if you can't do it on your own yet!”  
Which was a bit of an exaggeration, of course – the magazine was tailored specifically towards young children and used simple language and characters, but even then, Tooru had struggled with some of the bigger words the first few times he had read it.  
He had memorised most of it by now though, so he was confident in his ability to show off. 

Yuu smiled that sunny smile of his and gave Tooru a cheerful thumbs up, but he started leafing through the magazine without asking for help.  
Not one to be left out, Tooru scooted closer in a reversion of their previous sitting positions, peering over the smaller boy's shoulder. 

“There's a really good run-down of the rules on page 17!”, he said helpfully, and took the liberty to flip to the page he had indicated.  
Yuu didn't seem to mind. 

“They explain it all really well, even the more complicated stuff”, he went on, settling in next to his friend in order to once again re-read the respective passages.  
Yuu nodded, eyes fixed on the colourful text boxes that detailed positions, rotations and faults. 

“Why did you ask anyway?” Tooru was fiddling with the edge of the page, eyes tracing the familiar characters and sounding them out in his head, like the teachers had suggested to his class for reading practice last year. 

“Because of that game we watched earlier”, Yuu answered, though he didn't look away from the page.  
“That player on the other team was really cool. The libero.” 

“Really? He didn't stand out all that much.” 

“Exactly! He was so good, he always knew exactly when and where he needed to be!”

Tooru could understand that, he supposed.  
It was the same for him with Blanco-san. His plays were never flashy, but they were always exactly what his team needed.  
He just hadn't pegged Yuu as the type to appreciate that kind of subtle play, with all his loud energy and wild abandon. 

But maybe he should've seen it coming. 

Yuu was surprisingly quiet when he played.

“Anyway, I've been thinking of trying out the libero position. But there are a bunch of extra rules for it, and Moto-sensei hasn't explained it to us first-years yet. She wants us to know the basics before we get into the more complicated stuff.” 

“Oho! Libero, huh?”  
Tooru leaned even further into Yuu's personal space, grinning brightly.  
“Perfect! I don't have a libero on my perfect team yet. You've got really quick reflexes, it's the perfect position for you!”

Yuu burst into laughter, a bright grin on his face.  
“Who said it was gonna be _your_ team? All plays are connected in volleyball, right? Every player is equal, then!”

“Nah, just watch me!” Tooru's grin took on a dangerous edge, and Yuu's expression matched his own, caught up in the excitement as he was.  
“I'm gonna be captain! And we'll go to Nationals! We're gonna be the best team ever!”

“Ohh! Nationals! I like that!” 

There it was again, that open, warm smile.  
Like the sun coming out from behind a passing cloud and painting the world in brighter colours. 

Yuu had a way of making you feel like you could do anything, Tooru thought.  
He had such unshakable faith in other people's ability to succeed.  
It made you feel special. And it made you want to do your best so you wouldn't let him down. 

Tooru hoped that he'd be able to lift others up the same way, one day. 

“If you're going to Nationals, then I'm gonna have your back.”  
Yuu jumped to his feet with a sudden burst of energy, apparently finished with the magazine for now.  
“Yosh! What are we waiting for, then? Let's practice!”

Iwa-chan looked up from where he was aggressively mashing buttons on Tooru's Game Boy Advance (it was brand new, the idiot better not have damaged it), and, after a moment of deliberation, put the handheld console aside.  
“Practice? Where?”, he asked, sitting up. 

“Oh! Remember that abandoned outdoor court we found last summer?”, Tooru asked excitedly, getting up as well. 

Iwa-chan nodded, already going through Tooru's drawer, hunting for his volleyball. Rude. 

At Yuu's excited look, Tooru took it upon himself to explain.  
“There used to be this old hotel by the river”, he said. “Apparently, they went out of business, and the building was torn down a few years ago. But get this! For some reason, they never took the outdoor sports court down. It's kinda hidden behind a few trees, so maybe they were just sloppy and forgot about it.” 

He shrugged. 

“Anyway, it's the perfect spot for some extra training. Like...”  
He snapped his fingers a few times, trying to come up with a cool-sounding term.  
“Like a secret hide-out for my perfect team! Only Oikawa-approved members allowed!”

Iwa-chan punched him as he stalked past, though he didn't look quite as grumpy as usual.  
Honestly, he looked very excited by Iwa-chan standards.  
“Baka-kawa! Who made you the leader?” 

Yuu laughed.  
“See? That's what I said!”

* * *

It became a Thing, afterwards. 

Over the weekends and during holidays, the three of them would meet up behind Tooru's house and sneak down towards the riverbank, follow the long, trampled footpath through the tall grass, pass the little copse of trees they generously referred to as a forest, and finally emerge onto the cracked, dry surface of the abandoned outdoor court. 

Frankly, it wasn't a very impressive sight.  
It was little more than a patch of packed dirt with an old, weathered net strung across the middle on two rusty poles. 

But it was theirs. 

They spent most their first day there pulling stubborn weeds from the hard ground and cleaning up the court as much as they could.  
They didn't get much playing done on that day. Instead, the harsh June sun chased them down the riverbank and into the calm, cool shallows. 

Their bright laughter hung in the golden afternoon air, accompanied by the summer chorus of cicadas and locusts.  
They stayed there until the sun dipped below the horizon, and they made their way home giggling and drenched with river water.

And so it continued. 

The outdoor court was theirs, and it was so much more.  
It was dusty earth underneath a clear blue sky, a hot summer sun beating down on them, the scent of sweat and the dull _thud_ of trainers on dry dirt, the heady, spicy fragrance of grasses and wildflowers in bloom, their gasping breaths and burning muscles as they pushed themselves to their limits.  
It was loud cicadas and pop music from a squealing tape deck, it was popsicles and cold water after a long training session.  
It was melons eaten by the riverside, and tripping each other into the water when it was least expected. 

It was summer, and it was friendship. 

Yuu learned how to do proper dive receives on that court, the packed earth far more forgiving than the hard wooden floor of the school gym.  
He was always covered in dust by the time they were done, but he barely even seemed to notice. 

Tooru and Hajime-san spent most of their time on the other side of the net, tossing and spiking, and making Yuu scramble to receive their ball.  
They were getting better, but so was he – it was a constant give and take, and all three were determined not to lose to each other. 

June became July became August, and August brought with it the summer break. 

The Torinosu Elementary School Volleyball Club joined the annual tournament, and their team of excited 5th- and 6th-years made it all the way to the quarter-finals of the prelims under Moto-sensei's guidance before finally bowing out. 

Yuu, Tooru and Hajime-san were there to cheer them on, and they watched attentively. 

It was nothing like on TV, of course. 

These were the best of their school's fumbling preteens, but they were fumbling preteens nonetheless.  
Both teams lost as many points to their own mistakes as they lost to each other. 

Still, a lot of them were on their way to become good players, that much was obvious. 

One player in particular stood out to them.  
He was from the other team, a 5th-year, short and dark-haired, and he seemed very self-assured, his plays surprisingly solid and controlled for a grade-schooler.  
His spikes didn't have a lot of power, but he made up for it with speed. 

The block couldn't even touch his spikes most of the time. 

Neither could he though, sometimes. 

More than once, his timing wouldn't match the setter's, and the ball would go sailing past his head, scoring Torinosu an easy point. 

It wasn't enough in the end, though. 

The short player got one final spike in, and the game ended 2-1, 25-22. 

Tooru insisted that they ask around for the short guy's name.  
“What? I just want to know the names of my future rivals! He looks like someone to keep an eye on!”, he pointed out when they asked him why. 

“Baka-kawa”, Hajime-san replied with a roll of his eyes. “We're too far apart in age to ever play against him. What's the point?” 

Tooru stuck out his tongue.  
“Baka yourself. Maybe you could learn something from him and improve your shitty spikes a bit.”  
He shrugged. “Besides, what if he wants to become a pro too? We might end up facing him then.” 

It took them some asking around, and a few strange looks from the students of the opposing school, but they did learn the guy's name eventually. 

But even then, Yuu wouldn't know the significance of the name _Udai Tenma_ for a long time yet.

* * *

It was a warm autumn morning and the days were growing shorter when the three of them arrived at their abandoned outdoor court, only to find it not so abandoned after all. 

There was a man in overalls with a folding rule and a clipboard, speaking into one of those small new flip phones with the many tiny buttons and jotting down notes and measurements. 

They were watching from a distance, suddenly feeling uncertain and out of place.  
Occasionally, snippets of the one-sided conversation would drift down to them. 

“...found a potential buyer for...” 

“...a fairly good price! They're gonna remodel the whole area and...” 

“...right? It's the perfect spot for...” 

Hajime-san sighed, looking glum.  
“Guess they didn't forget about the old court after all, huh? We should've known this place still belonged to someone.”

Tooru didn't say anything, his eyes fixed on the well-worn volleyball clutched in his hands. His eyebrows were scrunched up. 

Yuu felt a sudden pang at seeing his two friends so unmistakeably sad. 

It wasn't right.  
This place was supposed to be sunshine and laughter. 

“Let's play a bit further upstream until he's gone”, he suggested, hoping to chase away the sombre mood.  
“He doesn't sound like it's a done deal yet. Maybe they'll leave this place alone after all.” 

_Maybe_ , Yuu thought. _No, not maybe_. 

He was going to make sure of it.

* * *

That night, Yuu went back to the court alone. 

He left behind his human guise, and he slunk past Tooru's house unnoticed, the tall grass hiding his slight form completely as he made his way along the riverbank.  
The little forest waved its branches at him in greeting as he passed, and the meadow parted before him to reveal the little patch of dirt they had made their own. 

There, under the silent light of the watchful moon, Yuu danced. 

He leapt onto the wind and allowed it to carry him around the meadow with graceful twirls, his seven tails waving like the grass below him as he glid across the sky. 

His paws were dancing across stardust and the world joined his rhythm, singing him a melody of grass and wind and murmurs and moonlight, and the glowing orb of his soul danced with him, chasing the stars up above.

He had company now. 

The spirits of nature and woodland were watching him from their night time perches, bowing respectfully as he passed.  
The bolder ones amongst them joined him, following his steps through the sky, circling around and around and around the little patch of packed dirt that was _summer-laughter-happiness-memories_. 

The world sang for him. 

The melody of the night followed Yuu's every step, and he wove it into his magic, layer upon layer upon layer, a gentle weave of unreality and misdirection. 

Anyone perceptive enough to see the barrier might call it beautiful – because it was, gossamer starlight and silent melodies arching across the unassuming little playing field like a dome, a measure of perfection and clever deception. 

Luckily, there weren't a lot of people perceptive enough to see it left in Japan. 

Eventually, dawn arrived, and Yuu left, satisfaction warming his chest. 

No one who wasn't supposed to be here would ever be able to find this place again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me, accidentally changing writing styles every few paragraphs: PARKOUR!!


	6. Growth Spurt

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We can have a little time skip, as a treat.

“Yuu-nii-chan!”

Yuu paused, looking back at his small companion.  
She was lagging behind a bit, toddling along the engawa with an occasional stumble. She didn't fall though, always catching herself just in time. 

She was doing so well. 

An brilliant smile bloomed on Yuu's face.  
“Look at you go, Ume-chan!”, he cheered, holding out his hands. “Come to Nii-chan!” 

She pulled a face at him, though it looked more comical than threatening on her round little features.  
“I'm not a baby!”, she complained, glaring adorably. 

And she wasn't, Yuu supposed – though it didn't feel all that long ago that she had started walking at all (he might have cried when she took her first steps, just a little), she was three years old now. Her steps grew surer by the day, and she could even manage stairs on her own now, albeit slowly. 

Once again, Yuu found himself marvelling at the strange pace with which humans grew up.  
They developed so much slower than foxes did, and yet, their lives were so brief, bright and fragile like a brave little candle flame.  
He had seen it all before, countless times, and yet, the intensity of their lives continuously caught him off-guard. 

He wouldn't have it any other way. 

Ume-chan had gotten pretty good at running too, if the way she flung herself into his arms now was anything to go by.  
They toppled over backwards, laughing, and Yuu used the opportunity to tickle his honorary little sister mercilessly.  
She wriggled underneath his hands, giggling breathlessly, and Yuu only stopped when one of her flailing limbs caught him squarely in the gut, making him double over theatrically.  
Both of them kept laughing. 

He sat up, rubbing his sore stomach and grinning unrepentantly.  
“I know that you're not a baby anymore. I'm just really proud of you! You're growing up so fast!”

Ume-chan nodded vigorously, her curly black hair bouncing wildly.  
“It's my First Errand tomorrow, you know!”, she said with a very serious voice. 

Yuu knew that, of course.  
He, Sugiyama-san and Gramps had started planning for it weeks ago, to make sure that nothing could possibly go wrong. 

“Now then, Ume-chan”, he began, voice just as serious as hers despite his warm smile.  
“Do you remember where to go? You remember how to get to school?”

She nodded again, her little brows pinched in concentration.  
“Down th' street and to the right”, she stated confidently and pointed in the opposite direction, which happened to be the correct one.  
Ah well. As long as she had the right idea. 

“Aaand...?”, Yuu prompted, before she could once again get distracted by the koi in the pond, as she was wont to do. 

“Follow the path 'till the big brown building”, Ume-chan supplied, looking very satisfied with herself.  
Yuu nodded. “And then?” 

“Go in thru' the big gate”, Ume-chan said, and hesitated for a moment. “N' then walk past th' main building and go to the gym behind it.”  
She looked like she was thinking very hard. “Go thru' the third door!”, she exclaimed loudly, helpfully holding up three fingers.  
“And then go to Nii-chan and give him his bento!” 

“And then go to me and give me my bento!”, Yuu confirmed, clapping happily.  
“That's great, Ume-chan! You're gonna do perfectly!”

She giggled, thrilled at his praise.  
“And you know what to do when you get lost or can't find me, right?”, he asked, just to make sure.  
Another energetic nod. “Ask for help!”

Yuu gave her a very soft and careful high-five.  
“Exactly!” His grin was blinding, and Ume's matched his own. “There's a lot of very nice people at Nii-chan's school who will show you where to go!”

She nodded again, though she seemed distracted now, a new flight of fancy catching her attention.  
“Nii-chan!”, she demanded, holding out her grubby little hands. “Volley!” 

Yuu laughed and got up, picking up his volleyball from where he had put it down next to him.  
“Right, right!” He leapt off the engawa and into the garden, the thick, dew-slick grass nice and cool underneath his bare feet.  
He threw her the ball in a short, gentle arc, and she just barely managed to catch it, her little feet wriggling impatiently as she clambered down into the garden after him. 

She lobbed it back at him far less kindly, laughing triumphantly as she ran at him, and he had to dive in order to receive her throw – he joined in with her breathless giggles, and they lost track of time, simply passing the ball back and forth and constantly inventing new and increasingly elaborate rules for their game.

* * *

“Ohh, Nori! It's been a while!”, Yuu called excitedly, waving.  
The other boy turned around and waited by the school's main gate for Yuu to catch up, watching him with his usual meek pensiveness.  
He smiled, small but sincere. 

The two of them had become good friends during their first year of school, mainly because Nori was too shy to approach the other children and because Yuu had no concept of awkwardness or personal space.  
It worked out, somehow. 

They hadn't seen each other that much in recent months though; Nori was by far the better student between the two of them (Gramps had laughed and told Yuu that he'd be able to get fantastic grades if he actually applied himself; Yuu had simply shrugged and stated that repeating school over and over again didn't exactly make it any more exciting than it had been the first time around, and that he really didn't see any point in putting in the effort for good grades – again – if he could just have some fun with it instead), which meant that Yuu stayed behind in class C while Nori was moved into the more advanced class A. 

Now that they were third years, they had long since settled into their new routines and new classes.  
Yuu hoped that Nori had made some friends in class A, at least. 

Speaking of which-  
“Where's Rapidash?”, he asked, noticing the distinct lack of yellow stuffed unicorns in the immediate vicinity.  
Nori had always carried the toy around with him, for as long as he had known the boy. 

A complicated series of emotions flashed across his face, eventually settling into an annoyed frown. 

Huh. That was an unusual expression on Nori's face.  
He had seen in mirrored on Nori's mother's face many times though, Yuu thought to himself. 

“I'm not a little child anymore”, Nori mumbled defensively, sounding like he was parroting someone else's words.  
“I shouldn't bring toys to school with me. It's embarrassing.” 

Yuu frowned, but he chose not to comment.  
Nori's parents were by no means cruel, at least not intentionally. A strict upbringing was far from unusual in Japan, and Yuu had seen much worse than this over the years. 

Still, he had never liked it when people tried to dictate others' lives. 

He might have to do something about this, if it got any worse. 

“Hey, want to hang out after school tomorrow? I heard a rumour about some hidden Legendary Pokémon in Ruby and Sapphire, and apparently, they're really hard to find! Like, you have to solve those really specific puzzles in order to get to the caves they're in, and-” 

Nori seemed to be brightening up as Yuu was talking, his posture relaxing as he shuffled over.  
“Oh! And we could battle again too, right? I've been working on my team, they're even better than they were last time!” He sounded far more enthusiastic now that they were talking about his favourite topic. “But Okaa-san wants me to study instead of playing around... Can I come over to your place again? Your grandfather never forbids us from doing anything!” 

“You don't even need to ask! You're welcome any time you want to come over!”  
Yuu grinned and threw an arm around his friend's shoulders as they walked through the school's main entrance, Nori chattering away without any of his habitual shyness.

* * *

There was the shrill sound of a whistle, and Yuu rolled over with a tired smile, breathing heavily.  
From the ground, he eyed the ball he had failed to receive. That had been the Set Point. 

He sat up to retrieve the ball, barely even glancing at his skinned elbows. He was used to the sting by now. Though his kneepads offered some protection, diving and sliding across the polished floor still had its price. Even then, it didn't bother him all that much. He healed quickly, anyway. 

Hajime-san was grinning at him from the other side of the net, hand still extended in the spike position. Tooru smacked it in the rough approximation of a high-five, looking very smug.  
The other third- and fourth-years on Yuu's side of the court groaned. “Man, when did those two get so good? It's not fair!”

Yuu just laughed and lobbed the ball back into the cart, sidling up to his two friends as they deserted the court to make room for the next practice match. 

“That last attack was awesome!”, he cheered enthusiastically, boxing Tooru for emphasis. “You gotta show that to me again! I want to receive it!” 

“Ow! Stop that!” Tooru swatted his hand at him. Hajime-san snickered. 

They jogged over to the benches at the sidelines, grabbing their water bottles along the way.  
It would take a while until it was their group's turn to play again. 

Yuu chanced a glance at the clock hanging on the far wall. 5:15pm. Ume-chan ought to have embarked on her errand by now.  
He hoped that she would arrive within the next few minutes, while he was still off the court. 

Tooru caught his look. “Ah right, little Ume-chan is coming by today, isn't she?” He shook his head fondly. “My nephew had his own First Errand a few months ago, too. The little brat was crying the whole time, even though he did just fine.” 

Hajime-san snorted. “If anyone from your family is a 'little brat', that would be you. Shittykawa.”  
Tooru gasped at the new insult.  
Yuu laughed and high-fived his friend. 

Hajime-san glanced back at the ongoing training match. “Looks like this one might take a while”, he drawled, already looking bored. The rallies were long – not because everyone on the court was incredible at receiving, but rather because all the attacks were clumsy and easy to get. 

Tooru yawned theatrically. “Wanna sneak out and look for your little friend? That would save her the trouble of finding this room, if nothing else.”

Yuu only shook his head, keeping his eyes focused on the court, tracking the ball.  
“Nah. The whole point of the First Errand is to do it on your own, right? And to learn to ask strangers for help if you need it? We'd just take that away from her if we met her halfway now.” 

Tooru gave him a flat look before he closed his eyes and leaned backwards against the wall. “Whatever you say, I guess. You take the weirdest things overly seriously, man.”

In the end, Yuu played another game and a half before there was a hesitant knock on the gym's door.  
The girl who poked her head inside was vaguely familiar; Yuu recognised her as a senpai from the tennis club.  
She caught his eyes and her face brightened with recognition as she waved him over.  
Conveniently, the other team had just lost the point; Yuu called over the second middle blocker and swapped places with him. 

Moto-sensei watched him go with a bemused expression as he jogged over to meet the girl by the door, but she didn't stop him. 

The senpai ducked her head shyly. “Sorry to interrupt like this. Nishinoya Yuu-san, right?”  
He nodded and bowed. The girl smiled at him – she had short, blonde hair and stood almost a whole head taller than him. She looked really cute, Yuu thought. 

“Could you come outside for a moment? There's a little girl in the courtyard, and she was asking for you.”

* * *

They found Ume-chan sitting in the middle of the courtyard, crying.  
She had a bloody knee, and in front of her lay a tipped-over bento-box, its merry contents strewn across the ground. 

The moment she spotted Yuu, she began to cry even harder, ugly sobs wracking her whole body as she wailed. Her little hands, somewhat roughed up from her fall but not bleeding, reached out towards him blindly.  
“Onii-chan!”, she cried shakily. 

Yuu ran the last few steps, kneeling down next to her carefully and cradling her small hands between his own. He gave her a quick once-over, making sure she was okay.  
“Shhh, Ume-chan. It's okay. Nii-chan is here now”, he soothed, brushing his thumbs across the back of her hands. 

She blinked at him with watery eyes, still hiccuping with the occasional sob.  
He watched as her gaze wandered downwards and came to rest on the ruined bento. 

She started crying again. 

He sighed fondly and ruffled her hair, making her look up at him again.  
“Hey Ume-chan”, he said brightly. “Welcome to school! You did really well, asking for help and finding me!”

She stubbornly continued to cry.  
“Buuut!”, she wailed. “But the bento! I helped Mama cook, and I tried really hard to make it good, and-” The rest of her sentence was too garbled to make out, but Yuu thought he got the gist of it.  
“Wow, Ume-chan, you made this?”, he asked, giving her his sunniest smile. “That's amazing! It looks really good!”

She nodded mournfully. “But now it's bad”, she added waveringly. 

Yuu shook his head. “No way! You brought it all the way here for me!”  
He picked up the nearest piece of tamagoyaki. It had landed on a pile of spilled rice; there was only a little bit of dirt on it.  
“See? This still looks fine!”, he lied, and popped it into his mouth. It was very, very salty. Far too salty, in fact.  
He swallowed with some difficulty. 

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the tennis senpai wince. Luckily, she didn't comment. 

He clapped. “Wow, Ume-chan! That was delicious! You really made this?”  
She stared at him, eyes wide with wonder, and nodded. “Uh-uh!”

“Now then-” Yuu scooped up the dirtied food, placing it back into the bento box. He considered wiping off his hands on his gym clothes for a moment, but then simply used a sliver of magic to cleanse them when he was sure no one was looking. 

“See? It's all good now. The bento is saved!”, he proclaimed, presenting it proudly.  
Ume-chan sniffled, but she seemed to have calmed down. 

He helped her stand up, mindful of her skinned hands.  
Turning towards the senpai, he bowed once again. “Thank you for calling me out here!”  
She shook her head, smiling. “I'm just glad that she's okay now”, she said placatingly. “Little Ume-chan, was it?”, she said, bending down to the smaller girl. “I'm really glad that I could help you! That was very brave of you, asking people to find your brother!” 

Ume beamed at her, her tears seemingly forgotten already. 

Yuu thanked the older girl again, and she hurried off, presumably to catch the tail-end of her own practice session. 

“Hey, Ume-chan! Do you want to go and meet the school nurse?”, he asked, already walking her towards the front entrance of the main school building.  
“She has a lot of really cool band-aids. I'm sure she'll let you pick your favourite one for your knee!”

Ume-chan gasped in excitement.  
“I want one with pirates!” 

Yuu nodded sagely. “Pirates are a great choice. You're gonna look like a fierce warrior!” 

“Rawr!”, she yelled in an impression that sounded more like an adorable T-Rex than a pirate, but Yuu still thought that she had done a marvellous job. 

“And after the nice lady at the nurse's office has given you your band-aid, you can come and watch me play volleyball with the others!” 

She actually clapped her hands at that, clearly forgetting about her roughed-up palms. “Volley! Volley!”

Yuu ruffled her hair again.  
This could've gone a lot worse. Probably.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me, introducing OCs in the first few chapters: "You'll populate this world! And you'll populate this world! So many people will populate this world!"  
> Me, realising I'll actually have to keep writing those OCs into the story now that I've introduced them: *surprised Pikachu face*
> 
> In other news, yesterday's manga chapter revealed the canon name of Nishinoya's grandfather! Apparently, his first name is Mineo.  
> I have updated the tags to include his canon name, but I won't be changing it in the actual story. Tomohiro will stay Tomohiro.  
> Sorry, Furudate-sensei. Changing it now would be too much work.
> 
> As for that little line I included about Nishinoya's grades, I do think he could be very good at school if he actually tried.  
> We know that he's intelligent - during the Nationals match between Karasuno and Nekoma, it was him who noticed and picked apart Kenma's strategy. He's smart.  
> Chapter 73 tells us that his worst subject is contemporary literature, and we get to see his failed test - he clearly wasn't even trying to answer the very straight-forward questions, instead just filling the page with random one-liners that had nothing to do with the text he was supposed to be analysing.  
> Another thing worth mentioning is the class he is in.  
> In Japan, different classes have different levels of difficulty. In Karasuno's case, classes 4 and 5 of each grade are the advanced ones. And while classes 1-3 aren't advanced, they're presumably still scaled after the same system (correct me if I'm wrong though, please!), class 3 being the highest-level out of them. Both Tanaka and Hinata are in class 1 of their respective grades, but Nishinoya is actually in class 3. So that's not amazing, but it's not bad either - it's very average, even with how little he seems to care about his grades.  
> I'm pretty sure he could get very good grades if he actually bothered to follow the instructions on his tests.  
> I understand why he doesn't, though. Big mood.


	7. Stillness and Motion

“Alright now, that will be ¥3640.21, please.”

Yuu counted out the money and handed it over to the elderly cashier, who leaned down towards him with a kind smile.  
“Anything else I can help you with, dear?”, she asked as he shoved the groceries into his bag, carefully placing the mushrooms and eggs on the very top to keep them from getting crushed. 

“No thanks, Baa-chan! That'll be all for today!”

The old woman nodded kindly. “You're such a good child, Yuu-kun. Always helping out your grandfather with his chores. Nishinoya-san has been so much happier ever since you moved in with him. My husband keeps saying that he seems a lot livelier these days.”

Yuu flushed at the praise, still somewhat unaccustomed to such grandmotherly affection. 

“Now then, I won't keep you too long. But do tell your grandfather that the two of you are invited to dinner at our house on Saturday. We're always happy to have you over of course, and my husband has been very excited to discuss last week's game with dear old Nishinoya-san.”  
She pulled a small glass jar from below the counter, and she gave Yuu a conspirational wink as she unscrewed the lid. “But before you go - helpful children like you deserve a treat for all your hard work. Here you go.” 

She pulled a soft white sphere from the jar, and Yuu's mouth watered as the sweet scent of rice flour and red bean paste hit his nose.  
Baa-chan's mochi were the best. 

“I made them fresh yesterday evening”, the old lady said as she passed the treat over the counter, placing it into his eagerly awaiting hand.  
“And I know that the ones with red beans are your favourites, so I brought a few along, just in case you showed up today.”

“Well then-” She picked up the glass and shook it gently, giving him an impish smile. “I believe I have the rest all to myself now.”

Yuu bowed enthusiastically, though he was careful to keep his shopping bag steady. “Thank you, Baa-chan!” 

She chuckled and waved as he left. 

The combini's glass door slid closed behind him and he shivered a little as the cold air hit him. Shuffling forward, he took a large bite out of Baa-chan's treat as he began ascending the steeply sloped hill towards his home.  
The mochi tasted of nostalgia and warm memories, a perfect contrast to the wintery world around him. 

Yuu threw the last bite into his mouth and licked his fingers clean, pausing for a moment to pull his jacket tighter around himself. He took a deep breath of frozen air and resumed his climb up the hill, the bag of groceries carefully cradled between his arms.  
It had been an unusually harsh winter, and even now in early March, the cold still held the country in its frigid grasp.  
Even Yuu, who was far less susceptible to the dangers of hypothermia than humans were, had spent most of the cold season cosily tucked underneath the kotatsu, grateful for the wonders of modern technology and central heating. The weather had been rough, even by the standards he was used to. 

A dangerous-looking patch of slick ice sat on the road in front of him, and he stepped over the curb to avoid it. The meadow's frosted grass crunched beneath his boots, and he found himself admiring the tiny ice crystals that coated the withered plants. They caught the dim afternoon light in a pretty display of glimmering fractals, almost too bright to look at for long.  
He huffed a delighted laugh, and watched as his breath escaped into the atmosphere as a white cloud, barely visible against the grey, overcast sky. 

The world always seemed so quiet during winter, every sound muted and shushed by the blanket of snow.  
However, it ceased its silence around Yuu. It seemed to wake up when he was there.  
The snow's rhythmic crunching beneath his feet was like the beat to a song, and Yuu found himself humming along, making up a little tune to match his steps.  
Suddenly, the wind's howling was almost a melody, and the icicles hanging from a low roof nearby were shaking and chiming in the breeze, adding their own voices to the growing harmony. 

Most people would have simply huddled deeper into their cloaks and complained about the cold wind, too discontent and uncomfortable to pay any mind to the various noises, but to Yuu, there was music there. 

And where there was music, there was magic. 

There was always magic, wherever Yuu was.  
He knew to keep his eyes open for it. 

Most of it was not even his own.  
Most of it was, in fact, in the wonder of small moments and little joys, everyday happenstances that got lost amongst the blur of everyday life. 

Yuu's own magic was very different, and yet similar in that regard – he wove it into the fabric of this world, between all its small joys and little moments of wonder, until it became just another extraordinary facet of reality that people's eyes skimmed over without ever realising its significance. Overlooked, and disregarded, and forgotten. 

It took an open mind to perceive the hidden things. 

Yuu sensed the construct of his own magic now, as he drew closer to it.  
A scent like ozone, storms and summer grass brushed past his senses first, the unmistakable signature of his own weaving, and then the comforting hum of his magic settled over him as he walked through the gate, kicked the snow off his boots and stepped onto the porch of the old estate. 

His magic was strong here. 

It had taken years, but he had woven it into the very foundations and walls of the entire residence.  
The old wooden beams looked young and fresh again, as solid and strong as though they were freshly-hewn. The dark roof tiles looked more polished and clean than they had in decades. The numerous gardens scattered around the estate looked healthy and vibrant even in the middle of winter, and the koi in the many ponds were energetic and plentiful.  
As Gramps had wished, Yuu's presence here would keep this place alive and thriving. It would never age and fall apart, for as long as Yuu willed it so.  
Everything here was thoroughly infused with his magic, and shared in his soul's timelessness now. 

This place was under his protection. 

He followed the engawa around the front garden and pushed aside the shoji-door leading into the main building. Unsurprisingly, he wasn't greeted by a rush of warm air – the traditionally-built mansion was very old, and rice paper windows didn't make for great insulation.  
It was as cold on the inside as it was on the outside. 

Yuu didn't mind, though. It was all he had ever known, until very recently. 

He stepped inside and slid the screen closed behind him.  
Leaving his shoes behind by the door, Yuu stepped over to the central hearth, the tatami mats nice and soft beneath his feet.  
Since he was home alone and no one but him would see, he didn't bother with the human way of starting a fire. Instead, he reached out his hand, and between his fingers, vibrant blue flames sprang to life.  
He simply stared at them for a moment, enthralled as usual – they didn't hurt him at all (though they were very capable of hurting others when he wanted them to), but they were comfortingly warm, and it was always fun to watch their merry little dance as they licked across his skin. 

With a flick of his wrist, the fire disappeared from his hand and reappeared in the middle of the hearth, burning bright and hot and without any fuel at all.  
It cast the room into a strange blue light, mystical and ethereal. The shadows got deeper and wilder, dancing along the walls like living things.  
Yuu smiled softly, welcoming his magic home to him. 

He started humming again, picking the winter melody from earlier back up, as he made his way into the kitchen with his shopping bag.  
He'd get dinner started now. That way, it would be ready by the time Gramps returned from his hanafuda-session at the local pub. 

The house around him slowly started to warm up as he methodically washed the vegetables and cut them into even pieces, and he finally brushed off his jacket, throwing it onto a nearby stool.  
The winter would be over soon enough, and spring would bring with it the end of the holidays and the beginning of his fourth year at Torinosu.  
Come to think of, he should probably add another centimetre or two to his human form to indicate growth. He kept forgetting to change it.  
Time was passing far too quickly, and the other children in his class were growing bigger at an alarming rate.  
Yuu allowed himself a rare scowl as he used the large kitchen knife to push his diced potatoes into the pot waiting on the stove. Why did humans have to get so tall anyway? Their bodies were awkward and clumsy enough as it was. There was _no way_ he'd make his limbs even more gangly and unbalanced than they already were. 

He'd rather stay short and nimble, thank you very much.

* * *

“Oii! Yuu-chan!”  
Tooru's voice was the first thing that greeted him when he opened the gym door, and he shouted back with equal enthusiasm, a delighted grin on his face.  
It had been a while since he had last seen his friends. Usually, they would spend large parts of their holidays on their outdoor court, but since this winter had been exceptionally brutal, they had glumly agreed that training outside would be too reckless even by their standards.  
They had still met up a few times to play inside and watch old V-League tapes, but they hadn't seen each other nearly as frequently as they normally would have. 

As soon as he was within range, Yuu jumped his taller friend in his best battle-hug, holding on with his legs and arms and laughing maniacally as Tooru unsuccessfully tried to escape his grapple, squirming and complaining loudly.  
Hajime-san used the opportunity to give Tooru a friendly noogie, grinning at Yuu in greeting.  
It was good to see them again. 

This year, the month of April didn't seem all that inclined to grant them warm weather, so even inside the gym, some of the students were shivering in their thin sports gear as they waited for Moto-sensei to make her appearance.  
Yuu, Tooru and Hajime-san joined a few of them in a pre-emptive warm-up session in order to fight off the chill, and they caught each other up on what they had missed during the break as they were running laps around the court. 

“-and I met Akiko-chan from Class 4 there, and guess what? She totally confessed to me!”, Tooru boasted, and his smug smile would've probably looked a lot more impressive if he wasn't also gasping for breath, having run too fast too quickly.  
Yuu pulled a face at him. “Lucky bastard”, he hissed without any real fire behind it. Akiko-san was totally a cutie. She was absolutely wasted on a guy like Tooru, as far as Yuu was concerned. “So? Is she your girlfriend now?”  
Hajime-san just laughed. “No way in hell could Shittykawa ever keep a girlfriend for longer than a day! That's all it takes for them to realise how shitty his personality is!”  
Tooru punched him half-heartedly, though he didn't deny it. “At least come up with more creative insults. It's always _Shittykawa_ this, _Shittykawa_ that”, he grumbled in a very poor, high-pitched imitation of Hajime-san's voice. 

“Oi! I don't sound like that, Bakakawa!”

Hajime-san was clearly in the process of initiating a friendly brawl, fists raised aggressively and a very unrepentant look on his face, when the doors opened and Moto-sensei entered the gym.  
She clapped her hands to get the students' attention, and cleared her throat. “Sorry that I'm a bit late, everyone. I had to be extra careful on my way here today. As I'm sure your parents will confirm, driving in the mountains while the roads are frozen over is very dangerous.”

Some of the students nodded sagely, and she continued. “That being said, I hope all of you had a wonderful break. We'll practice as usual today and get back into the flow – keep in mind that we'll have to work on filling the gaps left by our graduated teammates, and that we'll welcome our new first-years tomorrow. Let's make this a successful new year for the club!” 

Yuu cheered excitedly, and several others joined in. Everyone looked raring to go, the cold seemingly forgotten already. 

“There are a few of you I'd like to talk with after practice is over, so please don't leave right away.”  
She smiled and clapped her hands again, much more forcefully this time.  
“Alright everyone, it's time for warm-ups! Give me five laps!”

* * *

Yuu had lost track of time, absorbed as he was in his diving exercises, and 6pm rolled around far more quickly than he expected.  
It was his turn to sweep the gym floor, so he made his way over to the storeroom to grab a broom while students all around him were packing up their things and taking down the nets.  
A few others joined him, and they made quick work of the task; soon enough, the brooms went back into the supply closet, and Yuu grabbed his things, ready to leave as well. 

His name was called from somewhere to his left and he turned, noticing a small group of students, standing in a loose circle around Moto-sensei. Ah, right.  
He jogged over, his sports bag slung over one shoulder, and sidled up alongside Tooru and Hajime-san, who both looked exceptionally pleased for some reason. 

“There you are, Nishinoya-kun”, Moto-sensei said with a nod. “As I was just telling the other boys, I've made up my mind about who will be on the active team for this year's club activities.”

Yuu felt his heart flutter in his chest, and he exchanged a thrilled glance with his friends. 

“I'm sure you know why I've asked you kids specifically to stay here after practice, now. Most of you were on the team last year already, but with the spots that have opened up, I decided that you three-” Her eyes came to rest on Yuu, Tooru and Hajime-san, and Yuu felt his delighted smile widen even more, “-would be the best replacements.”

She smiled at them, and continued.  
“I know that it's a bit unusual to include a fourth-year in the line-up, but frankly, now that Ito-kun has graduated, you're by far the best libero we've got, Nishinoya-kun. We'll be counting on you. On all of you.”  
His other teammates (his _teammates_! Actual _teammates_!) clapped, and Yuu bowed forcefully, Tooru and Hajime-san following suit a moment later.  
His face was burning, but a delighted laugh still escaped him, and as he was getting back up, he caught his friends' eyes and saw the same glee and disbelief echoed in them.  
They had made it.  
They were on the team! 

“I know that you have worked very hard to get to this point”, Moto-sensei said, her smile taking on a challenging edge. “But I expect you to work even harder from now on. Everyone, let's go to Nationals!” 

Their corresponding cheers could be heard even from the other side of the school grounds.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did I research winter weather patterns in Japan in 2005 to make sure I didn't depict it wrong? Yes, yes I did.  
> Did I also buy sake and red bean mochi to motivate myself to write, because this chapter just didn't want to happen? Yes, yes I did. No regrets. It was delicious. 
> 
> By the way, if you want to come visit me on tumblr, I'm timeturner-jay on there.  
> Feel free to leave an ask or a message, I'm always happy to talk! :D


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